


Hikaru no Ghost

by anad



Category: Hikaru no Go
Genre: Gen, alive!Sai, ghost!Hikaru, reverse!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7053949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anad/pseuds/anad
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sai is Japan’s greatest living go player. Hikaru is the Heian ghost haunting him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hikaru Appears!

The electronic lock re-engaged with a soft, melodic beep as the door closed quietly behind him. Sai barely even registered it in the background of his life anymore, even though it used to make him jump whenever he walked into his apartment. Though, on days like today, when he felt weariness grind deep into his very bones, Sai wasn't likely to notice anything.

Blindly groping along the wall of his entrance hall, it wasn't until his fingers found the light switch that Sai let go of the tension curled tight along his shoulders.

Walking into his apartment was not unlike falling into a deep, dark hole. And as he had been gone for the past few days, the heavy curtains had been drawn over the city-bright panorama outside of his windows, obscuring the moving landscape that would have greeted him otherwise.

The lights came on in a calming wave, bathing the neat, modern high-rise apartment in comfortable ambient lighting. Everything in this building was luxurious, from the designer lighting to the garden architecture to the first class security system. Sai had been stubborn in wanting to live alone, without any servants monitoring him at all hours of the day. And he had moved into this apartment because of how safe it was.

It was just that Sai hadn't expected living alone to feel this lonely. And now he even regretted having hired a firm to decorate his apartment. The interior design matched the building itself (sleek, modern, clean lines, open concept) rather than Sai's personality. And that left the rooms never quite feeling like home.

Sighing tiredly at the sight of his spotless, empty apartment, Sai left his suitcase by the door and toed off his shoes. He shuffled further and fell exhaustedly onto the sofa (a low white thing that wasn't comfortable for sleeping or sitting), shut his eyes, and ignored the unsettling silence around him.

There was an enormous state-of-the-art TV hanging on the wall in front of him. But Sai never did figure out the remote (a touchscreen tablet thing that he kept on the coffee table and charged diligently even though he was afraid of even turning it on), and the unit itself had no buttons (or at least none that Sai could find).

The only piece of decoration which Sai had placed personally was the goban. An old, ancient, _beautiful_ board which had been in his family for over a century. Supposedly, it had been the personal goban of Honinbo Shusaku himself. And Sai had had it for as long as he could remember.

Carefully cherished and taken care of, Sai had never thought of it as a toy, even as a young child. It had always been his greatest treasure, just as important as a person. And Sai considered the goban his oldest friend. He didn't really have any others.

"Tadaima." Sai spoke softly.

Despite the cool-toned lighting of his apartment, the goban glowed rich red and warm gold. It always felt as if it were greeting him when he returned, a welcomed presence in his otherwise sterile apartment.

The corners of Sai's mouth almost lifted into a smile. For whatever reason, he always had the impression of a bright and happy wave welcoming him back.

Sai sat there, just staring back at the goban. He was too tired to move, to think, to feel the sense of self-consciousness that lingered still in essentially talking to himself. It was an exhaustion beyond the physical, one buried deep and which had been allowed to settle for far too long, leaving him drained from the very core of him.

"It didn't help." Sai said aloud to the goban.

There's silence. There's always silence. In his apartment, in his family home, in Sai's world. Sometimes, Sai wonders if the world would shatter the moment he speaks too loud.

"Moving out didn't help matters," Sai hugs his legs close and tiredly presses his forehead into his knees. "Maybe I made it even worse."

Sai doesn't want to remember the past few days he had spent in his childhood home. He doesn't even want to remember his entire life spent there, under heavy scrutiny and disapproving glares.

"And you weren't even there this time. I should have brought you back with me." Sai sighs into the little pocket of darkness he's made. "You know how they think of me; it wouldn't have made much of a difference to let them think I can't live without a goban."

Sai is only thirty-years-old but feels far, far older than his years. Weariness is carried in all his bones. Exhaustion grows in his very heart. And some days, Sai just wishes for it all to…stop. Sometimes, Sai entertains fantasies about shedding his problems and worries and all of the weight he constantly carries with him and just...going away. To leave and never come back.

But he's not sure if he means simply picking up and moving to a different city, or something more…permanent. Because it would be _so easy_. And the more time that passes, the less the ideas horrify him. All it would take is a handful of pills in bed. Merely one step off his balcony. To sink into the waters of his bath and just never come up…

_"NO, SAI!"_

Sai startles so violently that he falls off the end of the couch, landing in a heap upon the cream-colored carpet. (Just why was everything in his apartment white?) The fall was in no way dignified or graceful. It was exactly as opposite as Sai could get, actually.

"NO! No, No, No, No, No, Sai! Stop thinking those thoughts! Stop it! Right now! Stop this instance!" The voice protests dramatically _and loudly_ , echoing throughout the silent apartment in a truly haunting moan.

Sai turned even more pale than he naturally was, violet eyes widening in terror. He frantically searched for the origin of the voice, but there's no one in the apartment with him. A team of security guards would have stormed their way up here if Sai's security system had been breached. Yet, no matter where he looked from his low vantage point along the ground, there wasn't a pair of feet anywhere in sight.

"Geez, Sai! LOOK UP ALREADY!"

In his shock and confusion, Sai's neck snapped upwards at the command.

Then he screamed in absolute terror.

There's a boy on his ceiling. No, almost on his ceiling. There's _a boy_ floating in the air almost at his ceiling!

The boy was obviously a child. About twelve years old. With (strangely) bi-colored cut short in a modern style, bright bangs obvious amongst otherwise dark hair. And all of this wouldn't have been that odd at least, if it weren't for the way the child was dressed.

He's dressed in the long rich robes of the classical Heian period. There is a tall, ornate black hat atop his head. Long white robes atop more colorful silk, all of it floating in the air outside of gravity and reality. And a transparent veil is draped over the boy's head, falling past his feet and floating above Sai's head.

Brilliant green eyes stared down at Sai, harsh and determined.

Sai blinked up at him, gaping.

"You…" The boy addressed him directly, possessing the unyielding authority of a noble class capable of controlling armies.

Sai felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a hard shiver of apprehension slithering down his spine, awaiting the command.

Then the boy pouted, cheeks puffing out in agitation.

"…ARE SO STUPID, SAI!" The boy shouted in fury, large robe sleeves waving through the air as he shook them in outrage.

He raised one silk-clad arm and pointed a very old-styled folding fan right at Sai's face, punctuating each of his next words with a hard shake.

"Dumb! Dummy! Loser! Moron! Fool! Slow! Simple! Senseless! Dense! Dull! Futile! Insult! Offense! IDIOT!"

Sai continued to gape upwards as the boy then began to fly around the ceiling, spinning again and again in a great circle as he threw his arms up in exasperation and wailed offenses.

"Who are you?" Sai blurted out, interrupting the temper tantrum being thrown along his ceiling.

"I'm Hikaru!"

The boy slid to a stop, turning to glare at Sai (who flinched), before he huffed and placed his hands at his hips. He glided smoothly down until he floated just above Sai's coffee table.

"Who's Hikaru?" Sai asked in confusion.

Hikaru huffed again in irritation, cheeks puffing out adorably.

"Me! Duh." Hikaru then rolled his eyes dramatically at Sai.

Sai continued to sprawl along the ground and gape.

"Get up, Sai!" Hikaru ordered.

Sai blinked a few times before unsteadily getting to his feet as quickly as possible when he couldn't feel any of his extremities.

"Sit down, Sai!"

Sai fell sideways onto the end of the couch, clamoring into a more suitable position as he felt an impatient glare at the back of his neck.

Hikaru waited, arms crossed, still floating gently over the coffee table.

"I…uh…" Sai stammered, unable to take his eyes off Hikaru. "Hello, Hikaru."

Hikaru gave him a decidedly unimpressed look.

Sai nervously smoothed the fabric of his pants, wondering if he had offended Hikaru by attempting to be polite.

"So…are you…I mean…you're…"

Hikaru rolled his eyes at him again.

"A _ghost_ , Sai." Hikaru answered him promptly. "I'm a ghost."

Sai paled even further.

"A Heian ghost." Hikaru added, looking distinctly amused by this fact. "The oldest ghost!"

Hikaru threw up his arms, the sleeves of his robes fluttering through the air as he chuckled and floated back at an incline.

"At least, I've never met anyone before my time." Hikaru amended, quite sensibly.

Hikaru then twisted around to lie on his stomach and study Sai, hands folded over his chin, still floating in the air.

Sai nodded. He didn't think he had anything to add to that.

"Anyway!" Hikaru threw himself up, sitting in seiza upon thin air. "We have some things to discuss, Sai!"

Sai's head whipped upwards, eyes wide.

"We do?"

"Naturally." Hikaru nodded with sombre authority. And Sai could almost see Hikaru within the halls of a castle, separated by sliding shoji screens, bathed in candlelight.

"Firstly!" Hikaru exclaimed, causing Sai to jump in his seat. "You're not allowed to die, Sai. Ever. I forbid it!"

Hikaru slammed his palm in front of him to emphasize the point. And though there was nothing at all to come into contact with, the sharp slap rang through the emptiness of Sai's apartment as if Hikaru had impacted with the non-existent tatami mat below him.

"W-Wh-What?" Sai stammered anxiously.

" **FORBIDDEN!** " Hikaru shouted resolutely, glaring at Sai with a cutting emerald gaze.

Weakly, Sai nodded in understanding. Certainly, there had been finality in those words.

"Secondly!" Hikaru held up another fan, this one of the samurai variety rather than the closed folded one from before. "You are no longer trusted to act on your own. Until such a time that you have once again proved your competency, I shall be the general and you shall be the horse."

Sai's mouth opened, gaping at Hikaru again.

"The horse?" Sai asked weakly.

"Yes! You have something against horses, Sai? They are creatures and friends worthy of even the highest nobility! I was given a horse in my third spring. He was a loyal and steadfast friend. I _loved_ that horse, Sai!"

Sai's mouth shut with an audible click. He had no idea what was happening.

"Thirdly!" Hikaru continued, fan gone. "As your master—"

Sai sputtered.

"—changes shall be enacted to better reflect my honorable personage within this household…if you even deign to call it as much." Hikaru sniffed disdainfully at the apartment around them.

"What changes?" Sai exclaimed, ignoring the jab at his apartment. (It wasn't as if he much liked it either.)

"Well, for one thing, you could put me in a better place, Sai!" Hikaru snapped.

Sai just stared at him in complete incomprehension.

Hikaru dropped down to stand atop the coffee table, legs apart, hands on hips.

"The goban! The goban, Sai!"

Sai stared down at his treasured goban. And then back at Hikaru.

"That's my house, Sai! Where do you think I sleep?" Hikaru pointed down to it, before stopping to frown at it a little. "Or…haunt? Is that what you people say? Well, whatever you want to call it then."

Sai opened his mouth, only to close it slowly.

"And it wouldn't kill you to use it once in a while." Hikaru continued, oblivious to Sai's inner crisis. He floated to sit down on the coffee table, light as a feather, kicking his legs childishly. "It's a goban, Sai. You're supposed to _play go_ on it; not stare at it. It's not one of the great precious jewels of the Hōō-dō."

Sai looked away from Hikaru to focus on the goban he had had his entire life. The goban he had treasured and taken care of with only the greatest of care. The goban he had poured his thoughts and feelings into when he had no one else. The goban _he had spoken to_. The goban Hikaru _resided_ in. That haunted goban.

"Err…Sai?" Hikaru asked with some concern, finally noticing Sai's rapid-onset panic attack. "Are you feeling unwell?"

Sai couldn't breathe. He had forgotten how to do that. He had stopped breathing.

And ready for a break from reality, Sai gratefully fell into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I’m aware that the title means “Hikaru’s Ghost”. But is not Hikaru **everyone’s** ghost?  
>  2016.06.01


	2. Hikaru's Disguise!

When Sai woke up, it was the next morning, and he came to consciousness lying in the middle of his own bed in his own bedroom.

Blinking at the unexpected familiarity, Sai propped himself up onto his elbow and looked around curiously. There was only quiet in the dark, curtained room.

Getting up, Sai's feet automatically found his slippers. He was dressed in his pajamas.

Fingers brushing at the fabric self-consciously, Sai ignored his lingering unease in favor of pointing out to himself that—logically—what happened last night had just been a very strange, disturbed dream.

Sai found all of his clothes hung up inside his closet. His overnight toiletry bag was sitting on his bathroom counter. And his suitcase had been neatly stored away within the far closet where he kept his winter coats and extra winter blanket.

He didn't actually remember putting his things away, but he must have if they had been put away. Right?

Later, Sai found himself hesitant in leaving his bedroom. Which was ridiculous, really. He had already dressed for his schedule today, in a navy blue suit with a bright yellow tie for the occasion. But he still shuffled uncertainly in front of the door, undecided and anxious.

There was the steady hum of his air conditioner flowing throughout his rooms. And the faint sounds of the city outside his windows. It was all so quiet and familiar. Just another morning on just another day.

Holding his breath, Sai steeled his resolve and pushed his bedroom door open.

The apartment was silent and empty. And Sai breathed a sigh of relief. And then tried ignoring the strange sense of disappointment that followed.

A little more confident, he walked briskly down his hallway. And it wasn't until he reached his living room that Sai slowed and paused to glance over at the goban.

Usually, he would start the day the same way every morning. It would be strange if he didn't follow routine. Right?

Sai nervously cleared his throat, looking surreptitiously in the direction of the antique.

"Err…good morning…" Sai coughed into his palm.

He almost added 'Hikaru' to the end of the greeting, before mentally hitting himself in the head and wondering if he were going insane.

Hikaru wasn't _real_. That was just a dream. A very strange, very…Hikaru-ish dream.

Then Sai caught sight of what was in his kitchen.

There was a traditional Japanese breakfast waiting for him at his dining table. Rice porridge, grilled fish, miso soup, and a fresh garden salad.

Whoever had made it had known that Sai liked porridge in the morning rather than rice. And that he preferred a salad rather than Japanese pickles for breakfast.

After staring at the dishes he had uncovered in complete shock, Sai finally noticed the note.

It had been tucked into a traditional long-styled envelope, 'STUPID SAI' written in startlingly artful calligraphy.

The envelope and letter paper Sai recognized immediately. He had never used it, instead keeping everything packed away in the polished wooden box the set came in. It had never even left his study since he had moved in.

The envelope hadn't been bound. It hadn't even been closed all the way, as it could only be Sai that would find it and read it.

Slowly, Sai picked it up and carefully examined it from all angles. He was very careful when he turned the envelope upside down to slide the letter paper out.

The letter itself was like something Sai had been shown by museums in his childhood. It was folded and written in an antiquated fashion, flowing from right to left, the elegant ink characters moving in a top-down fashion, with particular focus on the aesthetics upon the page as much as it did the words themselves.

It was both jarring and amazing to hold something like this in his hands. And Sai was never more grateful to have been forced to memorize Kanji than he was now. Even then, it took him many long moments to discern the content of the letter as he didn't have much experience with Cursive Script.

_The Horse,_

_This honorable personage has partaken his time and expended his effort to present the unworthy you with a delicious morning meal. Eat it or die! You always skip breakfast and the habit is vexation without apology._

_The General_

Standing alone in his apartment, Sai very carefully thought over just what this letter meant.

The swirls of inky words proved that it had not been just a very strange, delusional dream last night. Sai would question his own sanity, but there was no possible way that he would have been able to write this letter while in some kind of blackout haze. He could barely read it! (He resolutely did not turn back to look at the goban.)

In the end, despite wanting to promptly faint again, Sai obediently sat down and ate his breakfast.

* * *

Later that morning, Hikaru was busy at work observing the modern day era.

"Geez, it's not that much more exciting from a thousand years ago." Hikaru sighed as he leaned back from observing the everyday interactions of everyday people.

A mother carried her newborn son while holding the hand of her small daughter. A man unloaded wares into a store from the street. And friends happily walked together, laughing and shopping and whatever it was that was so exciting down there.

Cities were, in Hikaru's vast experience, always the same. Big, loud, and full of people. He didn't even need to hide his voice. It was so loud in the city that Hikaru could make his comments aloud and no one would even bother to look around to see who said it. No one was listening.

Hikaru huffed as he pulled his silk cape down over his face in boredom, tumbling backwards through the air.

Though no one could see him, it was force of habit for Hikaru to 'conceal himself' when 'venturing out amongst commoners'. It was standard practice for high nobility, who weren't actually ever allowed to leave their expansive family homes.

The more adventurous nobles 'disguised themselves' when in the city. Hikaru was such a noble. Though to do that, he had to observe modern day culture first to know how to properly blend in.

"Well, that's good enough!" Hikaru exclaimed resolutely, throwing up his arms and legs. He startled some nearby crows by doing that, but no humans.

Hikaru turned to his bird companions, who all either ignored him in favor of something shiny or looked at him in annoyance for the sudden interruption.

"Don't you think so?" Hikaru asked the crows.

"CAW!"

Hikaru nodded in complete agreement.

"You're right! I might get some of the details wrong, but no one will pay that much attention to some stupid kid."

"CAW! CAW!" A second crow hopped closer to stand beside the first, looking at the ghost.

"Of course he's right." Hikaru admonished the second crow with a stern look. "Humans are just like that. And you guys could bother to show some support once in a while, you know!"

The two crows just stared up at him.

Hikaru huffed.

"Well, I don't have time for this!" Hikaru shouted at them, waving his arms around. "I have to go find Sai! He's such a stupid horse!"

"CAW!" The crows agreed.

And with that, Hikaru waved goodbye to his nearby crow companions. His company all cawed after him as Hikaru flew down to get a closer look. He floated in the air above the moving crowd as he read the prominent signboard at the front of the building.

'CHILDREN'S GO TOURNAMENT' had been printed in big black letters, alongside colorful cartoons of a happily smiling boy and girl playing go. Hikaru rolled his eyes at it.

Leaping down to hide between two bushes, Hikaru promptly made himself tangible. But instead of Heian robes, he was now wearing bright yellow and black sneakers (to match his hair), a pair of loose shorts with lots of pockets (a lot of boys seemed to like it), and a t-shirt with a picture of Edo Castle splashed across the chest in stylistic black ink (which had been a popular souvenir when Hikaru visited that morning).

Brushing himself off, Hikaru looked all around himself to admire his work.

"Heheheh." He grinned in congratulations before returning the silk cape over his head.

"No one will be able to tell a thing."

He then entered the building, his long cape trailing behind him.

Hikaru followed the crowd as they filed into the main hall where the tournament was taking place. There was an overbearing mother in front of him, dragging her very embarrassed and subdued son with her. Hikaru lifted the opening of his cape to spare the kid a sympathetic look, but then the mother glared at him and Hikaru quickly decided to veer in the opposite direction.

He spent a few moments marveling at the sight of so many children playing go, but quickly forced himself to focus on finding Sai. The connection between them felt like a tug over Hikaru's navel, so he only had to follow it to be able to find the man.

"Why is stupid Sai around here?" Hikaru huffed as he darted this way and that down an empty corridor. "The tournament is over there!"

The tournament was being held in the main hall. Hikaru had somehow found himself in the narrow and confusing hallways somewhere behind that. And as Hikaru was feeling the distinct possibility that he was probably not supposed to be wandering around here, he shouldn't be asking for directions either.

Well, Hikaru would be having words with Sai after this. Why were modern buildings so confusing? In a thousand years, shouldn't they have learned how to make them more simple by now! If he didn't have the connection to navigate with, Hikaru was sure he would have been lost a thousand times over already.

Pausing before a corner, Hikaru made sure the cape was secured around him before he peered out beyond the wall to check to see if there was anyone there.

Naturally, this was when Hikaru crashed straight into another person.

Hikaru managed to remember to stay tangible. And even more importantly to the Heian ghost, he kept his grip firm around the cape.

"I'm so sorry!"

Cautiously, Hikaru loosened his hold on the silk, peering out at the very concerned voice.

There was a kid sitting across from him. He was dressed in a boring gray school uniform. Meticulously cut bob-style hair. Sharp eyes though. Intelligent.

Briefly, Hikaru wondered if he should have shown up to this tournament in a school uniform. But none of the other children seemed to be wearing one, so he dismissed the thought.

Meanwhile, the kid had shifted to a crouched position and was watching Hikaru curiously.

"Probably my fault." Hikaru replied graciously, like a noble should.

He cheated a little by floating up, but no one would be able to see it underneath the cape.

The kid was still looking at him strangely. Hikaru hoped he hadn't noticed anything.

"Hehe, I don't have very good peripheral vision in here." Hikaru laughed, extending a hand to the other boy through the opening of the silk wall all around him.

The kid kept staring at him, but Hikaru just grinned and winked at him.

Finally, the other boy looked away from the opening which showed only a part of Hikaru's face, and down to the hand offered to him.

"Up you go." Hikaru gave the other boy a firm pull as soon as his hand was accepted.

The other child nearly toppled over. Hikaru winced under his cape. He wasn't too familiar with how much force he should have yet.

"Err, sorry about that too." Hikaru chuckled, hand disappearing back under the cape as he held the opening just a little bit closer. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

"Yes." The boy absent-mindedly brushed at his shorts. "I suppose so."

The other boy frowned at Hikaru, looking at him even more curiously now.

Hikaru blinked back at him.

"I'm Akira." The other boy introduced himself uncertainly.

"Hikaru!" Hikaru exclaimed excitedly, before remembering himself and subtly pulling his cape closer to his person.

Akira opened his mouth, only to close it again with an audible snap. He kept glancing at Hikaru, as if he really wanted to bring something up. But he was also too polite to do so.

Hikaru wondered what Akira's problem was. There was absolutely nothing out of place about his honorable personage, after all. He had studied well.

"Are you in the tournament?" Akira finally asked, gesturing towards the main hall.

Hikaru glanced over, but considering the level of skill the other children were playing at…

"It wouldn't be fair if I participated." Hikaru looked thoughtful for a moment. "There's no true sport if there's no true competition."

Akira watched him carefully, at first in surprise, and then in understanding. He suddenly seemed much more subdued than before, though his eyes had become even sharper at Hikaru's words.

"How about you?" Hikaru asked.

Akira shook his head.

"Then what?" Hikaru looked at Akira in surprise. "Are you just here to watch then?"

Akira looked vaguely uncomfortable then, physically cringing away from Hikaru as his eyes darted over to the side of the room.

"Not exactly…" Akira trailed off.

Hikaru gave him a look, but shrugged it off. He wasn't too concerned about what Akira was doing here. He doubted that the other boy was here for nefarious purposes.

"Well, I'm actually here looking for someone."

Akira looked at him in startled surprise, eyes wide.

"Me too!" He exclaimed, before immediately slapping his hand over his mouth.

Hikaru nodded in dignified understanding.

"I'm looking for my horse." Hikaru announced.

Akira stared at him.

"You may accompany me." Hikaru grinned.

He would feel more comfortable having someone with him. He'd always had a servant caught up in his plans when he had ventured out in disguise. It just didn't feel the same prowling these halls on his own.

"I mean, you must be back here for a reason too." Hikaru stated, quite intelligently, actually. He couldn't think of a reason for Akira to be wandering these hallways. And if Akira were here for nefarious purposes, Hikaru's noble presence would certainly detract the other boy from seeking trouble.

Akira looked uncertain, but he still nodded in agreement.

"You have made the honorable choice, Akira!" Hikaru grinned at him, already turning in the direction of the tugging around his navel. "Let's go then! He's close."

"Do you mean your horse?" Akira asked, staring at the back of Hikaru's caped head.

Hikaru didn't even turn around as he answered,

"I can feel it."

Looking like he wasn't quite sure what he had agreed to, Akira nevertheless obediently trailed behind Hikaru as the two boys made their way down the corridors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghost!Hikaru is kind of a little maniac.  
> 2016.06.06


	3. Hikaru's Disciple!

Sai had been jumping at shadows, noises, basically anything that moved all day. The most significant event being this morning, when he had screamed after being startled by a particularly fast goldfish.

"Fujiwara-sensei, are you alright?"

Sai looked up from staring intensely at a potted plant in the corner of the room. He was sure that there was something suspicious about it.

"My apologies, Touya-sensei." Sai turned back to the other man with some embarrassment. "I'm a bit distracted today."

On his part, Touya Kouyou seemed merely amused. But the older man was famously stoic. And Sai had always found it easier to read people on a goban than in actual life.

The two men were waiting in an office behind the tournament hall. They had seated themselves across from one another on either of the leather couches. A coffee-table stacked with tournament flyers, framed certificates, and a bag of prizes for the children sat between them.

"I'm sure that the children will take up your attention soon enough." Kouyou replied vaguely, mouth relaxed in such a way that hinted at a smile.

Sai just nodded and nervously smoothed the fabric of his pant legs. He wasn't sure if that had been Kouyou's idea of a joke; best to merely acknowledge generally.

"If you wouldn't mind me asking," Sai began hesitantly, hands twitching nervously over his knees. "Touya-sensei…"

Kouyou looked back with interest. It was unlike the younger man to initiate conversation. The minute movement of his eyebrow encouraged Sai to continue.

"A-As a fa-father yourself…" Sai stammered, eyes darting throughout the room.

Surprise flickered over the elder Touya's expression, carefully hidden immediately after.

"Akira is…uh, about…twelve?" Sai's brows furrowed uncertainly. "...now, correct?"

"Yes. In December." Kouyou nodded.

"I see." Sai nodded, eyes focused on his knees again.

Kouyou was a patient man. So he waited.

"Are… What I mean is…is your son…in your opinion…" Sai asked, looking wide-eyed and panicky as he asked Kouyou this question. Similar to a deer in the headlights. "...very loud?"

Kouyou weighed this very strange question very carefully, trying to figure out the motivations behind it.

"Akira has always been a well-behaved child." Kouyou answered. "So, in response to your question, I would have to say, in my opinion, that my son is not a very loud child."

Sai nodded, as if he expected this. And looked down at his knees again.

Also, strangely, back at the plant in the corner of the room.

"I do believe, however," Kouyou added, a bit unsettled by Sai's continued worried expression. "That most children are quite…noisy."

"Are they?" Sai asked, head whipping upwards to look at Kouyou. With…hope?

"I believe so." Kouyou nodded, still confused by the meaning of this conversation.

"Ahh, is that so…" Sai trailed off thoughtfully, nodding his head.

Kouyou was not the type of man to speculate. But at the moment, he found that there were numerous scenarios for this line of questioning running through his thoughts.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Fujiwara-sensei?" Kouyou offered hesitantly.

Sai looked up, as if surprised Kouyou was still there.

"Oh? Touya-sensei. No, no. I'm quite fine."

Kouyou did not believe this to be so. But he wisely commented no further.

Sai continued to look thoughtfully at his knees. (And occasionally, at that plant.)

After some moments of silence in the room,

"Kouyou-sensei…"

Kouyou looked up immediately.

Sai smoothed the fabric of his pants along his knees.

"Say that one recently has made the…acquaintance…of a…twelve-year-old boy?" Sai frowned, looking entirely uncertain over whether or not this was what had happened.

"Oh?" Kouyou attempted to prompt the conversation.

"…Uh, yes. I believe so, yes." Sai nodded mostly to himself. "He was quite…loud."

Kouyou chuckled a bit at the description.

"A relative of yours?" Kouyou inquired.

Sai just looked horrified by the very idea.

Meanwhile, Kouyou wondered when it was that the younger man in front of him was this confusing.

"He…" Sai began uncertainly. "…I'm—"

_**"SAI!"** _

The door to the room suddenly flew open. And both men startled and turned towards the doorway in complete shock.

"Here you are!" Hikaru exclaimed happily.

Sai paled significantly.

"Fujiwara-sensei! I challenge you to a match!" Akira declared grandly as he swept into the room.

"Akira, I wasn't aware that you would be attending this event." Kouyou focused in the direction away from Sai's focus.

Touya Akira blushed quite significantly at having been found by his father. But rather than show that, he stood tall and tried not to let his embarrassment show too obviously.

"Father, I was not aware that you would be attending either." Akira stated stiffly, his face flushed a bright red.

Kouyou only allowed the corner of his mouth lift slightly upwards; his version of a knowing smirk.

Akira blushed even redder.

Meanwhile, Sai looked from the elder Touya to the younger Touya, and then at Hikaru as discretely as possible. He did not want to call attention to the fact that a ghost was in the room with them.

Kouyou turned to Hikaru.

"Who is your friend, Akira?"

Akira looked away from his father to the boy beside him.

Sai violently flinched, staring horrified at both Touyas.

"I'm Hikaru!" Hikaru cheerily jumped into the conversation before Akira had the chance to introduce him. "It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of your esteemed person, Akira's Honored Father."

Then Hikaru shocked everyone in the room by executing a very formal bow.

"Touya-sensei, y-you can see him?" Sai was proud to have stuttered only slightly.

Kouyou and Akira both looked at Sai with identical looks of polite confusion.

"Oh!" Hikaru exclaimed, remembering something very important.

He threw off the cape covering him. A bi-colored head popped out, Hikaru grinning at everyone as he tied the cape around his neck and threw the folds over his shoulders.

"My apologies." Hikaru murmured somberly to the people in company.

Everyone stared at him. One more terrified than the others.

Sai had the suspicion that Hikaru truly believed that that outfit actually had hidden him.

"Why are you wearing a cape?" Sai blurted out incredulously, before realizing his slip and slapping his hand over his mouth.

Hikaru pouted, cheeks puffing adorably.

"Because I'm a nobleman, Sai!" Hikaru waved his arms around in protest. "I must maintain my decency if I'm to be out amongst the general populace."

Both father and son shared a look communicating that Akira was just as amused-confused as Kouyou was becoming.

"No one wears capes anymore." Sai told Hikaru slowly, as if explaining to a child.

Rather than yell some more, Hikaru stopped and actually looked very thoughtful at this new information.

"Is that so?" Hikaru hummed, finger tapping against his chin. "I suppose I did not observe any other such persons. Though, at the time, I had been under the assumption that there were no other nobles out in the parts of the city where I visited."

Sai literally slapped himself in the forehead.

"Fujiwara-sensei," Kouyou politely interjected himself into the conversation. "Is this the boy you were speaking to me about?"

Akira looked from his father, to Sai, to Hikaru in quick succession.

"You were talking about me, Sai?" Hikaru demanded, crossing his arms as he pouted.

Sai looked even more trapped than he had already been.

"No! I mean— I only mentioned to Kouyou-sensei that you were…we…I mean…" Sai stumbled through the explanation, hands fluttering through the air in a helpless manner.

"Are you Fujiwara-sensei's student?" Akira asked Hikaru directly, poised sharp enough to strike.

Kouyou glanced at his son with some reprimand at his impolite behavior, but quickly turned his gaze back to Hikaru. (He wanted to know also.)

"Pft!" Hikaru waved his hand in dismissal. "Me? His student? Utterly presumptuous!"

Sai breathed a sigh of relief. So Hikaru had some sense after all.

"Sai is my disciple!"

Sai was having a heart attack.

"Fujiwara-sensei is…" Akira hesitated, uncertain on how to continue. "...your disciple?"

Hikaru nodded seriously, hands on his hips.

"He's the horse!" Hikaru reminded Akira, before looking quite proud of himself. " _I'm_ the general."

Akira tilted his head at him in continued confusion.

"You are not…learning go from him?" He tried again, just to be sure. Anything else was just so…inconceivable.

"Of course not!" Hikaru exclaimed. "If anything, he'll be learning go from me."

Both father and son concluded then and there that it would be best to look back at Sai for an explanation rather than Hikaru.

"H-Hi-Hikaru h-has…w-w-will b-be…h-he…" Sai stammered helplessly, resisting the urge to look to Hikaru for what to say.

Sai was about to faint just to get away from this situation.

It was then that Kouyou leaned forward, his gaze steady as it fixed upon Hikaru's unfalteringly calm demeanor and natural ease. Even Akira fidgeted slightly in their presence, whether Kouyou was his father or not. And Sai, significantly-older than Hikaru, wasn't holding himself as steady as the child before him was.

"Do you play go, Hikaru-kun?" Kouyou asked.

Sai looked at the older man in obvious relief.

In response, Hikaru nodded seriously.

Then he looked over at Sai and grinned.

"You could say that I reside in a goban!" He declared cheekily.

Sai paled again, looking terrified at the two others in the room.

Akira looked torn between his confusion and his rising acknowledgement of Hikaru as a potential rival. (Anyone acknowledged by Fujiwara-sensei was a potential rival. Anyone.)

Kouyou only smiled the faintest of smiles, more amused than anything else by this conversation.

"What does the game mean to you, if I may ask, Hikaru-kun?"

"You may ask." Hikaru responded graciously, before he turned and very-seriously focused his attention solely on the man across the room.

Something had shifted when Kouyou had asked that question. And both Sai and Akira stood there cluelessly, feeling as if they had missed something important.

There was no more teasing or merriment in his gaze when Hikaru answered.

"The board is the field. The stones are the soldiers. And the opponents sitting on either side are waging a war." Hikaru's voice was shockingly cutting in its seriousness, eyes as sharp and as hardened as tempered steel.

"When you position a stone, you are setting down the life of a single soldier. You will set each and every one of them on the path to conquer, or upon a path to destruction. And should you choose to hold that tremendous responsibility in your hands, then you must bear the burden of their victory or defeat. Because if you were not upon that battlefield yourself, then in this game, it was you, and you alone, who dictated the many lives under your command to wage _your_ war against _your_ enemy."

Sai suddenly felt very, very cold. The air, once pleasantly cool, now felt icy.

Akira shivered.

"Isn't go a simple game, Hikaru-kun?" Kouyou asked. His eyes conveyed more meaning in his statement than what could be expressed solely in those words.

But only Hikaru was meant to understand him then.

"You asked for my opinion, Akira's Father." Hikaru replied vaguely, expression shuttered and unreadable. "I have so presented it."

Kouyou watched Hikaru very carefully, thoughtful and watching, but eventually simply nodded in acceptance.

"Thank you, Hikaru-kun, for your insight."

Hikaru nodded back at the other man, and then seemed to change entirely.

"Well, there will be many interpretations of the game." Hikaru added quite cheerfully, utterly unlike the grave nobility of only seconds before. "Sai has very different views from me, after all. Don't you, Sai?"

Sai looked startled. And he felt vaguely threatened. Whether in regards to his personal views on go or to his person, he wasn't sure.

He stared at Hikaru, who only grinned darkly back at him.

"I propose a game, Hikaru-kun."

"Father?/Touya-sensei?!" Both Akira and Sai exclaimed simultaneously.

Kouyou glanced over at the both of them, eternally calm and composed, but his gaze ultimately focused on Hikaru when he explained,

"Fujiwara-sensei and I were supposed to play a demonstration game in front of the tournament audience today. But I believe it will be a better benefit to the children should you and Hikaru-kun play a game, Akira."

Akira looked completely blindsided by this request. But there was interest in his gaze when he turned to look at Hikaru.

"Touya-sensei, I really don't—!" Sai protested loudly.

"Let's play!" Hikaru interrupted with a grin.

Sai looked helplessly at Hikaru, pleading with the Heian ghost to just try and understand that this was a completely horrible idea.

"I'll be Sai's champion." Hikaru decided, still grinning his dark grin at Sai.

Then he turned towards Akira, bright and cheerful.

"You can champion for your dad, Akira."

Akira immediately nodded, looking inordinately pleased. He glanced over at his father for approval. Touya Kouyou nodded back with his full support.

Meanwhile, Sai had risen from his seat on the couch and herded Hikaru into the corner. He was shocked when he was able to touch the ghost, feeling flesh and bone under his hand. But, at the moment, there were even more important things to concentrate on.

"What?! How?! When?! …WHAT?!" Sai exclaimed in complete shock, voice just above a whisper.

Hikaru patted him reassuringly on the arm.

"Rest your concerns and be assured, Sai. This noble one shall not serve you with disgrace."

Sai just stared at him, wanting nothing more than to faint again.

Then he sighed.

"That's not exactly what I was worried about." Sai tried weakly, already defeated.

Hikaru laughed.

"You worry too much, Sai."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Sai. Leave it to Hikaru. LOL  
> 2016.06.12


	4. Hikaru vs Akira!

The president of the go association, a kindly old man with snow-white hair and a gentle smile, greeted the hall to polite applause.

"Welcome, children and parents, to the Annual Children's Go Tournament held by Japan Go Association…"

Meanwhile, Sai stood backstage as the president gave his short speech greeting the guests of the event. He also kept his hand firmly upon Hikaru, not trusting the ghost to remain where he should be. So, Hikaru had been pouting over being manhandled since they had left the office.

"…very pleased to introduce Fujiwara-Kisei-Meijin-Honinbo-Judan-Tengen-Oza-Gosei, the first player in Japanese history to simultaneously hold all of the seven major titles."

Much more enthusiastic applause filled the hall then. As Sai stared out past the curtain, the president looked back at him, smiling gently and grandfatherly. But Sai could only stare back, uncomfortable with the attention, as unwilling to push himself onto the stage as he had always been.

"Get over it, Sai!" Hikaru hissed at him. And then proceeded to shove him out.

Sai stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet. But upon sight of him, the hall grew ever louder. And Sai automatically bowed in greeting to the president before his body traversed the remaining distance to center stage by long-ingrained habit.

Sai nervously accepted the microphone, bowing politely to everyone in the crowd.

"Ahh…thank you. But please call me Fujiwara-sensei. The other way is quite long."

The audience laughed, thinking that Sai was telling a joke.

Sai merely looked—wide-eyed—back at them.

And Hikaru snickered under his breath. He knew that Sai didn't have a sense of humor.

Meanwhile, Akira stared at Hikaru strangely. He hadn't thought it was _that_ funny of a joke.

"…also have in attendance, the former Meijin title holder, Touya-sensei, who has graciously agreed to a demonstration game against Fujiwara-sensei today."

Touya Kouyou appeared on stage to respected applause. And the two boys were left to wait impatiently for their turn on stage.

"Good afternoon. I would like to thank the Japan Go Association for the invitation today." Kouyou spoke. "Additionally, Fujiwara-sensei and I would like to make the announcement that, rather than a game between two old men..."

He caught Sai's gaze over the shared joke. Though, Sai didn't even blink at being referred to as an old man by the former Meijin.

"...a demonstration game would, perhaps, be more exciting if Fujiwara-sensei and I were championed by children today in honor of the Children's Tournament." Kouyou finished amiably.

There was a murmur amongst the audience. The children amongst the audience looked up with vague interest.

"My son, Akira, has offered to play in my place." Kouyou smiled softly as he raised his arm offstage, encouraging Akira to join him.

Akira stiffened almost immediately. And then proceeded to walk straight-backed and stoic, joining his father on stage in front of the crowd of hundreds.

"And Fujiwara-sensei, would you care to introduce your champion?" Kouyou turned expectantly to the younger man.

Sai's expression stated quite clearly that, _No_ , he would not care to do that.

"I'm Hikaru!" Hikaru leapt up on his own. He was heard across the hall, even without a microphone.

Hikaru happily waved to everyone as he cheerfully crossed the stage. He stopped to stand beside Sai, for the show, mirroring how Akira was standing beside his father. There was still a long silk cape draped over his shoulders.

A wave of laughter spread through the crowd, everyone amused by the appearance of the bright and happy child. And Hikaru twisted around to face Sai, who was standing just behind his shoulder. He grinned darkly.

Sai looked in alarm at Kouyou. But no one could see Hikaru's expression at that angle. So Kouyou only looked questioningly back at him, no alarm whatsoever in his expression.

Hikaru turned to grin brightly up at Kouyou, pretending to be like any other happy child with no malicious intent whatsoever. Then he faced Akira, and the two boys shook hands.

And as the two professional go players who would be commenting on the friendly match were introduced, the tournament officials led the two boys over to where a goban had already been set up.

"…Ogata 9-dan and Umezawa 6-dan."

Sai watched anxiously as Hikaru bowed politely to the two professional players. He wasn't sure what he was expecting; perhaps for Hikaru to disappear before everyone's eyes, maybe even fly up into the ceiling.

Instead, Hikaru only glanced with apparent disinterest at the two professional players. Akira remained visibly stiff and wooden beside him, in direct contrast to Hikaru's carefree ease. And the two boys proceeded to ceremoniously bow to one another and the goban before taking their seats, beginning the game.

Sai was still anxious as he took his seat beside Kouyou in the chairs provided for them, close enough to watch the game. So far, Hikaru hadn't completely terrorized or horrified anyone. He had remained perfectly normal as they had waited, took his seat when asked, and cordially nigiri-ed to decide playing order without anyone fainting.

That was good, Sai decided. That was really the best he could hope for, actually.

Meanwhile, Akira had already decided to take this game seriously from the very beginning. Not only was Hikaru connected to Fujiwara-sensei in some way, but the way Hikaru had described his opinions of the game belayed years of contemplation over the nature of go. Whatever Hikaru's outer carefree attitude, this was not an opponent to take lightly.

Hikaru only grinned back at Akira's fierce expression as they proceeded to exchange stones, apparently completely oblivious to the rising tension from the other side of the table.

"As we begin the game, Hikaru-kun will have the first move." Umezawa-pro announced to the audience from where she and Ogata were positioned along the sidelines.

The boys were seated center-stage, with Sai and Kouyou seated in chairs behind them. The announcers stood off to the side. They would look back frequently behind them, at the large screen which projected the game being played on the goban.

"And there seems to be no hesitation in his play as he places his stone at 17-4 Upper Right Corner Komoku. Which is a fairly…unconventional move, wouldn't you say, Ogata-sensei?" Umezawa-pro turned to her colleague for his insight.

Akira paused only slightly. But a glance across the board resulted only in another happy grin from his opponent.

"A rather outdated opening move by modern day standards, Umezawa-sensei." Ogata commented, glancing back at the screen with some curiosity. "Akira-kun has responded swiftly with a stone under a star point, a solidly more conventional placement during the beginning stages of a game."

Within the next few moves, Sai had begun to stare pleadingly at Hikaru. After all, only he knew that Hikaru was a Heian ghost. And Hikaru was playing a standard response to a Keima attack…from two hundred years ago.

As the game progressed, it was becoming more and more clear that Hikaru's joseki—the set pattern of moves that brought benefit to both sides—was painfully _old_. Older-than-any-living-person old. Almost as if Hikaru had learned to play only theoretically, from the records of games recorded hundreds of years prior.

But the way Hikaru set stones down could only be honed from many long years spent in front of a goban. And the level of intense concentration he focused on the game spoke only of a student who had undertaken serious and considerable study of the game.

Still, the game had hardly even begun showing proper formations before Sai switched from pleading to outright horror in his staring at Hikaru.

Because Hikaru was playing a teaching game against Touya Akira.

_"Oh! You caught onto that, did you? Quick!"_

Sai nearly screamed. Thankfully, he only squeaked and tightly gripped the armrests of his chair.

Kouyou looked over at Sai with some concern. And Sai managed a stressed half-smile to convey that there was no need to worry about him. Eventually, the former Meijin turned back to the game, riveted by the progression.

Hikaru looked no different from before. He was seated comfortably upon the stage, a look of concentration on his face.

_"We can communicate through our thoughts."_ Hikaru helpfully informed him, sending Sai the impression of a hugely bright grin.

**_"WHY?!"_** Sai shouted through his thoughts.

Hikaru winced visibly, covering it up by suddenly looking thoughtfully down at the board.

The action was immediately noticed by Akira, who began frantically studying the board looking for whatever had attracted Hikaru's attention.

_"Keep it down a little, Sai."_ Hikaru mentally hissed. _"That was loud."_

_"It shouldn't be loud! We shouldn't be able to talk to each other!"_ Sai snapped back.

_"Uh, we're not talking to each other, Sai."_ Hikaru mentally rolled his eyes.

_"We should definitely not be able to think at each other!"_ Sai openly frowned upon the stage.

Kouyou, Ogata, and Umezawa-pro all noticed this. But none of them could figure out what about the game so far had disappointed the other pro so tremendously.

_"We've always been able to think-talk to each other!"_ Hikaru informed him, mentally pouting. _"Just so you know!"_

**_"WHAT?!"_ **

On the stage, Hikaru winced again.

Akira leaned forward in his seat, frustration edging into his expression as he remained unable to figure out just what he couldn't see that Hikaru seemed to be able to.

_"You can only talk to me when you want to, Sai. I can't, like, read your mind. Relax."_

_"I certainly will not!"_ Sai was mortally offended by the very notion. _"There will be no relaxing of any sort."_

Sai crossed his arms and sank back into his seat. Beside him, Kouyou peered a bit more closely at the board. There must be something about this game that he had yet to see…

_"You're much more fun in your thoughts, Sai."_ Hikaru laughed, even as he merely looked thoughtful upon the stage. _"We should have started talking to each other like this ages ago."_

Sai did not have to wonder to know the absolute horror that such an initial contact would have scarred him with for life.

To his left, Kouyou shifted sharply in his seat. Sai glanced over at him, knowing instinctively that Kouyou had figured out what Hikaru was doing as well.

_"Touya-sensei knows!"_ Sai bemoaned his fate to Hikaru.

In his thoughts, Sai decided that he could indulge in as much dramatics as he wanted. No one else but Hikaru would be privy to them. And this was all Hikaru's fault anyway. Outwardly, Sai's face remained perfectly placid.

_"Heh."_ Hikaru mentally smirked at Sai. _"I wonder when the announcers will figure it out. No! I wonder when Akira will figure it out."_

As Hikaru cackled through his thoughts, Sai looked worriedly over at the younger Touya.

_"He'll believe that you're not taking him seriously."_ Sai frowned.

_"I am taking him seriously."_ Hikaru responded firmly, with a reproachful look to Sai. _"If I were not, I would not be playing a teaching game. If he were an unworthy opponent, I would soundly thrash him upon the goban and offer no advice nor wisdom from which he may improve himself."_

_"You are holding a conversation with me through our thoughts!"_ Sai reminded him. _"Instead of focusing on the game!"_

_"Akira is simply a thousand years too early to play against me. That is not a fault of his. And it shall remain that which I cannot remedy."_

The mental image Sai received from Hikaru then told Sai that he should know better.

Sai stopped to consider this claim thoughtfully. Hikaru was a ghost from the Heian, more than a thousand years old. With that much time and history, presumably, it was very likely that Hikaru was an accomplished go player.

_"What's up with Akira anyway?"_ Hikaru asked him as he calmly set another stone on the board.

Sai sighed, wondering how he should explain this. He had been amused when Touya-sensei's son had first started to outright demand games from him. But in the years since, Sai had known that his continued leniency wasn't just because this was the son of a fellow go player he greatly respected.

_"He thinks of me as his rival."_ Sai answered Hikaru. _"So Akira tends to challenge me to games when he sees me in person."_

_"I already knew that much."_ Hikaru mentally rolled his eyes again. (Sai was beginning to wonder how to do that. He didn't have the luxury of doing that in person, so he should very well be able to do it in his thoughts.) _"I've been haunting the goban forever. And I've been attached to you since you first came into contact with it. Actually, I know too much about you!"_

_"Then why ask?"_ Sai asked, genuinely baffled.

He had thought that Hikaru hadn't begun haunting him until now. After all, the ghost hadn't appeared until yesterday. He hadn't considered that he had always been haunted. He had had that goban since he was a baby, as far as he was aware.

_"I'm asking you why you allow him to behave as such."_ Hikaru clarified in exasperation, as if Sai was being deliberately difficult. _"Your egregious indulgence of his demands aside, it's not as if a kid like him would present much of a challenge for you."_

Sai pouted. He didn't think it was 'egregious'.

_"To be fair, now, knowing how long you've been a ghost, I don't think I'd be a challenge for a kid like you."_ Sai huffed at the thousand-year-old ghost.

Hikaru grinned at him in his head.

_"He just…"_ Sai reluctantly glanced over at Akira. The boy remained solely focused upon the goban, determined to play the game, to the exclusion of everything else in the world. _"…reminds me of me, I suppose."_

When only silence greeted his response, Sai looked back at Hikaru.

He found that Hikaru wasn't studying the game, but the other boy across the board. And there was a look of profound understanding in Hikaru's expression.

The game continued. More stones were placed upon the board. And Hikaru was silent, his gaze focused on the game. Looking at it from an outsider's perspective, it could have been any two children playing go then.

_"He's not you."_

Sai blinked, staring back at Hikaru without understanding.

_"What?"_ Sai asked, unsure whether or not Hikaru had even been speaking to him.

Hikaru turned to him. And in his gaze, Sai suddenly realized the many years of Hikaru's existence. Became startlingly aware that Hikaru was not a child, had not been for possibly a millennia. Hikaru looked back at him, the embodiment of an ancient spirit.

_"He's not you, Sai."_ Hikaru told him, steady and unmoving. _"And you don't have to stay where you are anymore either."_

_"Why is that?"_ Sai asked, bewildered by the statement.

Hikaru smiled then, bright and exuberant, as if bursting out into the light.

_"Because I'm here with you."_

Sai stared back at him for a long moment, as if suspended in time. And slowly, understanding began to flow through his being, like blood through his veins.

Sai had not realized how helpless he had felt until there was someone there with him. He had not realized how bleak his life had been until someone had cared. For a long time, it had felt that he had been lost in darkness, unending and alone and without any hope of salvation.

Hikaru was out there, in the sun. Hikaru was laughing and smiling and beckoning him to step out into the light. Thinking back to all of the feelings of warmth the goban had ever provided him, perhaps Hikaru had been there all along.

And Sai was so _grateful_.

Perhaps he was not yet in the light still. But it was lighter here. He was standing in the shade, looking out at the sun.

"I concede defeat."

Sai looked up sharply at the words.

Touya Akira bowed over the goban, still visibly shocked and confused. The entire hall was abuzz, the knowing members of the audience explaining the significance of the forfeit to the unknowing.

Because Touya Akira was not only Touya Kouyou's son, but was famously known within the go world as the strongest player of the next generation. Many believed he had been ready for the professional examination before the age of 10. And long before then, Touya Kouyou had stopped allowing his son to compete in tournaments against the other children. There was no one within Akira's age group who should have been a challenge.

And now, Hikaru looked over at the other boy, and smiled reassuringly at him.

Gracefully, Hikaru bowed to the forfeit, his response as formal and elegant as in the Emperor's court. "I remain humbly grateful for your kindness."

Akira stared back at him, incredulous in the face of the antiquated response. Actually, from what Sai could see, everyone in the entire hall was visibly astounded by Hikaru's elaborately ceremonial mannerisms.

As Sai turned his attention from the audience to the stage, he confirmed his fears in Kouyou's serious gaze and Umezawa-pro's open surprise. And once Sai caught glimpse of the sharp-eyed look in Ogata's expression, he immediately knew that he no longer had any choice but to leap straight into the flames. And try his best to stop the oncoming firestorm.

"Thank you, Akira-kun, for the game. Ogata-pro, Umezawa-pro. Thank you, Japan Go Association, for inviting us. We'll be leaving now!"

And then Sai simply picked Hikaru up and bodily carried him off and out under his arm, like a bag of rice.

"Hey! Sai!" Hikaru's protests were heard all the way on the other side of the tournament hall. (And no one had ever expected Sai could move that fast.)

But they were already gone. Disappearing like ghosts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sai's career as a professional go player is inspired by real-life Japanese go-pro Iyama Yuta. He didn't hold all seven titles when I first researched him (when I was writing "Go, Soccer Player, Go!"), but he does now! And Umezawa Yukari (6-dan) is, of course, the professional go player who supervised the Hikaru no Go series.  
> 2016.06.26


	5. Hikaru on a Mission!

Sai had yelled a lot after the Children's Go Tournament. Hikaru hadn't really understood the problem, but had understood that Sai was upset. So, Hikaru had declared that Sai would not see him for a while and promptly disappeared.

But really, that was because Hikaru had Very Important Business to attend to. General-Hikaru business that Horse-Sai had no business being involved with.

"Because he's a stupid horse." Hikaru muttered to his companion.

The black cat lounging upon the ledge only lazily glanced over at him, its golden eyes flashing before it occupied itself with cleaning its sleek fur.

"Of course you'd take his side." Hikaru snapped, angrily pointing at the cat. "You never take my side, you traitor!"

The cat flicked its tail at him, and pointedly turned away.

"Ohh, I know what you're like." Hikaru told it. "Moody!"

The cat meowed at him, looking at Hikaru as if he were an idiot. Then got up and sauntered off, disappearing around the corner.

Hikaru huffed and turned his attention back to what he had been _importantly_ doing.

For the past few weeks, while Sai had been dealing with the uproar of Hikaru's victory, forced to dodge go-pros (and Akira) left and right, Hikaru had been on a mission.

"Oh!" Hikaru perked up with interest, forgetting about his long-gone cat-companion. "Finally!"

He dropped himself onto the street behind a dumpster large enough to hide him from view. Turning corporeal was easy now. And so was transforming into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Giving himself a thumbs-up for remembering that no one wore capes anymore, Hikaru peeked out from the alleyway before he hopped out onto the busy street and in through the store door.

Soft rock music played from the speakers strung up in the corners of the tightly-packed space. There was only one other customer and one store clerk amongst shelves and shelves of CDs, long tables stacked with vinyl records, and posters upon posters of bands covering what little available surfaces were left.

This was just a small, over-packed shop in the middle of the city. (But it was neat, well-organized, and in a great location.) Outside, it advertised which band would be performing downstairs in the underground hall connected with the shop. Strolling in through the front door, Hikaru passed by the stack of flyers advertising the same band, propped atop the sill of the front window.

As he didn't have much interest in the merchandise, Hikaru glanced briefly at the hand-drawn signs advertising BUY/SELL/TRADE and the neatly-labelled price stickers on each and every item. It smelled of old wood here, and the musky scent that came with old paper, no matter how well the condition.

"Need help finding anything?" The store clerk asked from behind the counter, an open box filled with assorted CDs and vinyls in front of him.

"Nah." Hikaru replied casually, rocking back and forth on his heels as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

The store clerk nodded, pausing to adjust his thick-rimmed glasses before he picked up the full box.

"Great shirt, by the way." The cheerful clerk tossed him a knowing wink before walking off.

Hikaru looked down at his t-shirt with a grin. He had thought so too!

A flash of red caught his attention and Hikaru headed straight for the source. On the other side of the store, in the ROCK genre, standing in front of the PUNK subcategory, stood a boy his age with bright red hair, headphones around his neck, suspenders over his uniform shirt, and a pair of visibly cool socks.

"Hi!" Hikaru greeted the other boy, grinning brightly.

A pair of sharp, cat-like eyes glanced over briefly, before dismissing him completely and returning to browse the shelf of CDs.

Hikaru just kept smiling, and waited.

"I'm not going to help you," The other boy coolly glanced over at Hikaru again. "…with anything."

"Who said I needed help?" Hikaru protested, pouting. "I'm here to help you!"

"I highly doubt that." The other boy replied with absolutely no interest, crouching down to get a better look at the lower shelves.

"Why?" Hikaru questioned, leaning down to tilt his head at the other boy curiously.

Mitani Yuuki gave a very-put-upon sigh before he expended the effort to actually look at the boy bothering him. He snorted.

"I've never even seen a Yoshida Brothers shirt before." Mitani commented lazily, resting his chin into his palm.

Hikaru brightened up at the mention of his shirt, standing up to proudly show it off.

"Have you heard them?" Hikaru asked. "They're very good."

"Yeah." Mitani stood up, slowly dusting off his pants. "Shamisen isn't my thing, but you like what you like."

"I prefer gagaku, actually." Hikaru professed solemnly. "The majesty of the Heian court knows no equal."

Mitani looked at him like he was crazy.

"I was wrong; I will help you." Mitani then pointed directly to the other side of the store. "Your music is over there. Everything not from this century goes over there."

Hikaru grinned in amusement, but shook his head at Mitani, declining the helpful assistance.

Mitani sighed, rubbing at the point just between his eyebrows.

"Look, kid—"

"I'm Hikaru!" Hikaru introduced himself cheerfully.

"— _Hikaru_ , then." Mitani glared at him for the interruption. "I know just from looking that you're not from around here. Your t-shirt and Converse are fine, but those 45RPM jeans you're wearing cost almost 50,000 yen. And then you open your mouth, and I _know_ that you're a big weirdo. So, what's a rich weirdo like you doing in a second-hand record shop in Takeshita Dori instead of on the Omotesando side of Harajuku? Or better yet, one of those fancy places in Ginza?"

Hikaru pouted.

"Not that I usually shop, but I prefer the Nihonbashi district." Hikaru held out his arms just so, as if adjusting very long sleeves that were not there.

Which was weird, but that just seemed the norm here. Mitani rolled his eyes.

"Of course you do." Mitani crossed his arms and rested his hip against the table of records nearby. "Because you'll only get weirder with each passing second."

Mitani looked at him expectantly.

Hikaru pouted again.

"Well, I am here to help you, ungrateful as you may be." Hikaru crossed his arms self-importantly.

Mitani snorted.

Suddenly, Hikaru leaned in, close enough to startle the other boy. And Mitani would have cried out, if he had not caught sight of Hikaru's eyes and known that it was his place to stay silent.

Those were unforgiving eyes, unyielding eyes. This was the gaze of someone who was used to power and authority. Someone who possessed the kind of ability to punish those they deemed guilty.

Mitani stepped back, his back hitting the shelf behind him. And though futile, he tried to push away the intimidation he felt as he rebelliously met Hikaru's gaze.

"I've been watching you, Mitani Yuuki." Hikaru whispered, low and deadly calm. "And you're a cheater."

Mitani made sure not to give any response, not to even change his breathing. But that was emission enough of his guilt.

"A very good cheater." Hikaru added thoughtfully, stepping back from Mitani in a floating step. "You haven't been caught yet, after all."

"Yeah?" Mitani tugged at his shirtsleeves, desperate to regain some of his calm and control after having been so thrown by Hikaru's sudden change in demeanor. "Looks like I've been caught."

Hikaru grinned at him. "You'd find that I'm an exception to most things."

Mitani said nothing, only studied the other boy with much more seriousness than before. This time, cautious.

"Why do you care anyway?" Mitani asked him. "Everyone thinks I'm just a kid. All I've won is some pocket money from old people."

"I'm impressed by _how many_ games you successfully cheat at." Hikaru started counting off his fingers. "Go, shogi, chess, checkers—"

"Alright! Alright," Mitani slapped Hikaru's hand down, looking around at the rest of the shop. Luckily, the clerk had disappeared into the back. "I get it. You've done your homework."

Hikaru tilted his head at him. He hadn't done this work at home. In fact, it was impossible to have done any of this work from his home.

"So what of it?" Mitani hissed at him.

When Hikaru only looked back at him, clueless, Mitani rolled his eyes again and clarified,

"What do you care that I can cheat over a bunch of games?"

Hikaru faced Mitani solemnly then, the corners of his mouth downturned into a frown.

"I've seen what becomes of men on the path that you follow. Today, innocent board games. Later, true gambling. You will seek greater rewards at much greater risk. Trying your luck until your luck runs out. Chasing what is not yours until all has been taken from you."

Mitani looked away. He looked at the shelves, his eyes running over the familiar titles without really seeing them.

"Is that really how you wish for your life to play out, Mitani?" Hikaru asked seriously.

At his sides, Mitani closed his fists and clenched until he felt his nails cut into his skin.

"I don't really want to think about it." He ground out between clenched teeth.

"Well, start." Hikaru ordered. "You don't have to be a cheater."

"Well, I need the money!" Mitani turned to Hikaru and, for some reason, answered honestly. "Not just for records and stuff. I mean that I actually need that money."

Hikaru only gazed back at him, solemn and unmoving.

Mitani harshly sighed, and roughly ran his hand through his hair.

"Alright, look," He didn't want to feel it, especially not in front of a boy he didn't know, but he wasn't so bad that he didn't feel it. The guilt.

"My parents died when I was a baby." Mitani was too young to remember them. He still didn't know how he really felt about losing them. "My sister and I, our grandparents raised us after that. We didn't have a whole lot of money then. So, just imagine how much less we have now that they're dead too."

Regarding that, Mitani did know what he felt. Grief.

"Anyway, my older sister, she's old enough to claim legal guardianship over me." Mitani forced himself to continue, jaw tight. "But she's not so much older than me that it's easy. We get by, but it takes both of her part-time jobs and a check from the government just to pay the rent and make sure we eat. I've got to help her. Otherwise, it's the choice between the gas or the electric bill. It's whether Nee-chan can finally get a new coat this winter or I get a school uniform that actually fits.

"And no, it's not fair." Mitani glared fiercely at Hikaru, daring him to say anything otherwise. "But my experience in life is that it's never fair. And no one cares. Everyone just thinks I'm a kid, and no one's going to give me a job. At least not a job that doesn't thrust me even deeper into that world you think I'm heading towards anyway.

"So, I cheat at games against some old people. I'm not exactly proud of it, but it's something I can do. Like you said, I'm good at it." Mitani reminded Hikaru, eyes flashing. "And I can't afford to think about it. And I don't even know why I'm telling you, of all people, but I don't expect someone like you to understand what my life's like."

Hikaru was silent. And so was Mitani. For now, all they did was stare at one another, separated by the vast differences between them.

"If I am born into a life of privilege, of wealth, of the fortunate, does that mean I am inherently incapable of understanding to any extent?" Hikaru challenged him. "Does that mean I cannot emphasize? I believe that a man must do in his life what he is capable. Is that not what you have done, Mitani Yuuki? Are you not explaining to me that you have only done what you could?"

Mitani felt the fight fall out from under him. He blinked back at Hikaru, uncertain and unsure.

And Hikaru met Mitani's gaze, immovable, unchanging.

"If that is my belief, if I believe that everyone must do as they are capable, it becomes the duty of the noble man to do more than the common man. Dare I call myself a noble man if I refuse help to those deserving? Do I dare have the audacity to stand before Heaven and confess my willful blindness and purposeful ignorance?"

Hikaru turned away from Mitani then, his gaze fixed upon an unseeable thing, grim and haunted.

"Will I return to Kami-sama, understanding and aware? Or will Kami-sama have given chances to the undeserving me, only for me to have learned nothing?" Hikaru whispered. "Shall I have lived as a noble man? Or shall I have existed only as an ignorant man?"

Mitani opened his mouth, but closed it again without speaking. There was nothing he could have said against whatever personal battle Hikaru was struggling with then.

Shaking himself out of his own thoughts, Hikaru turned to Mitani again. But this time, with understanding eyes.

"Neither Kami-sama nor the honored Emperor have given me authority to judge you, Mitani." Hikaru shared with him, soft and gentle. "I just think you can become much greater than you think you're capable of being, with a little help, if you can accept it."

Then, Hikaru smiled at him. A bright, hopeful, infinitely-promising smile. Like a sunbeam cutting through a storm, promising better.

And before Mitani could say anything, Hikaru slipped away and out the door.

Mitani Yuuki stood in that small record shop that day, thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if there are second-hand record stores in Harajuku. But since it's known as the youth/counter-culture shopping district, I figured it wasn't impossible that they would have a shop with its own PUNK section.  
> 2016.07.11


	6. Hikaru Introduces Mitani!

Mitani Yuuki woke in the pale blue light of dawn, to the soft click of the lock.

"Nee-chan?" Yuuki's sleep-rough voice echoed through the quiet apartment as he sat up.

Their apartment was only the one room. The curtains on the windows were perpetually shut. There was a tiny kitchen in one corner. And a tiny bathroom was the only other door, in the other corner.

"Yuu-chan," Mitani Yuzuki whispered across the scant space between them. "Sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep."

Yuuki tried not to shiver as the cold air from outside finally hit him. His sister was already shutting it behind her.

"You didn't wake me." Yuuki replied stubbornly, frowning.

His sister only smiled back at him, amused by the sight of her baby brother sitting up in his futon dressed in his pajamas.

"Well, then," She indulged him. "No problems to report tonight, boss. I didn't screw up once at work."

"You work at some fancy office building," Yuuki reminded her. "I'm not your boss."

"I _clean_ some fancy offices at night." Yuzuki smirked at him. "Two different ones, in fact. And since I work by myself and only seem to answer to you, I _consider_ you my boss."

Yuuki was left frowning as his sister laughed and gathered her things, vanishing into their tiny bathroom.

Yuuki waited until he heard the shower running. Once the water was on, it was a guarantee that she wouldn't decide to surprise him by throwing the door open. (They couldn't afford the water bill.)

Once he was sure his sister was occupied, he crawled out of his bed and to the corner under the window. Yuzuki's futon set was neatly folded there. And he was a deft hand at setting it up by now, positioning hers nearest the wall so it would be easier for him to get up later.

His futon was the new one. After he had grown out of his child-sized one with the sky blue comforter, they had purchased an adult-sized futon with a dark blue comforter. That had been more than two years ago.

His sister's futon had a faded pink blanket with a faded pattern of flowers all over it. Yuuki had the faint impression that the colors had once been different, brighter.

He dropped down into his own bed, pulling the covers over his head, just as the shower stopped. Then he waited, until the clean scent of their soap had flooded into the apartment from the bathroom door being opened.

There would be a pause, then the soft click of the bathroom light switch turning off the only light in the room. Yuzuki would get into her own bed. And he would wait the beat of silence as his sister would turn to look at him, before softly whispering good night. Finally, he would hear her gratefully lie down, her breathing softening to sleep almost instantly.

Yuuki pulled the blanket from his head, turning over to stare up at the ceiling for a moment. Gratefully, he listened to the sound of another person. It was usually too quiet in this apartment, quiet enough to drive someone insane. It was the reason why he liked music so much.

Then he would get up and neatly put away his futon, his replacing Yuzuki's in that corner.

It was at this time that he would get up to make breakfast. And he was glad that his sister was a deep sleeper, while he was a light one, because he couldn't do it all in silence.

After Yuuki had cooked, eaten, and put away the dishes, he would get dressed for school. And he would check that Yuzuki's breakfast dishes were covered and waiting on the table, and that her lunch was wrapped in a cloth and set beside her purse, before he would he put on his shoes and leave for school, quietly locking the door behind him.

He never knew if his sister ever heard him leave. And he didn't ask.

School would pass by in its usual uniformity. Yuuki didn't really have any friends at Haze Junior High. He hadn't had many friends at his elementary school either.

He wasn't in any clubs, so he left right away once the final bell rang. Which meant he had a couple of hours to play games against the senior citizens. Yuuki knew which ones let him win and which ones didn't, and had a full rotation so he only saw someone once a month or so. He didn't take any more money than he had to.

When Yuuki returned home promptly at seven, Yuzuki would still be asleep.

"Time to get up, Nee-chan." Yuuki lightly nudged her with his foot.

Yuzuki's terrible bed-head popped up from underneath her covers.

"AGH," Yuzuki yawned. "It is that time already?"

"Obviously." Yuuki rolled his eyes at her as he hung his uniform jacket up. "And you're going to be late if you don't hurry."

"Why didn't I get a cute brother?" Yuzuki complained, not at all seriously.

Yuuki only rolled his eyes at her _again_ and disappeared into the bathroom.

When he was done with his shower, Yuzuki would have finished her breakfast and fully woken up. Which meant she was aware that she was already running late.

"I'm going to be late!" Yuzuki exclaimed in realization.

Yuuki only gave her a pointed look, not even bothering as Yuzuki bolted from the table and began running around the apartment frantically.

He gave a disdainful look at the dirty dishes she left at the table however.

"Did you make my lunch?" Yuzuki asked from the open bathroom as she attempted to brush her teeth and comb her hair at the same time.

"It's by the door." Yuuki replied, setting the dishes in the sink and picking up the dish soap. He would need to pick another bottle up from the store within the next few days.

"Thanks, Yuu-chan!" Yuzuki called out from somewhere behind him.

From the loud thumps, she was probably hopping around trying to get dressed. Yuuki rolled his eyes again, even if he wouldn't be seen, as he continued to wash the dishes.

"I'll be home at the usual time." Yuzuki announced as she put on her jacket and gathered her things. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Yuuki replied sarcastically, "That's hardly the template I'd live by if I had the choice."

"Brat!" Yuzuki called out behind her—just to get the last word—before she closed the door. Yuuki listened as she ran down the hall. And then there was only the silence of the empty apartment again.

He sighed as he set the dishes to dry.

There wasn't a window above the sink, but Yuzuki had put a calendar there when they had been children. Before he had started taking care of himself, Yuzuki had been taking care of him, as their grandparents had been elderly and hadn't always remembered everything.

Yuuki had circled today's date with the reminder that the electricity bill was due.

Sighing again, Yuuki looked to the ledge just above the sink. On the right hand side, there was the nearly-empty bottle of dish soap and a little stand for the sponge. On the left hand side, there was the old tea tin they kept their money in.

Yuuki pried open the lid, but already knew from feeling what would be in it.

Only a couple of silver 100 yen coins and a handful of even more pathetic 5 yen coins.

Taking the tin with him, Yuuki walked over to his bag and fished out his wallet. After counting out the amount he needed for the electricity bill (to be paid tomorrow on his way to school), he stuffed the rest of the bills into the tin before returning it to the ledge above the sink and starting dinner.

Yuzuki never asked where the money in the tin came from. But Yuuki had once watched her get increasingly more and more depressed opening up that tin, unable to pay this bill or that bill, the both of them sitting in the dark or without heat or water, before he just couldn't stand it anymore.

He put money in the tin now. And he knew that his sister wanted to ask, to demand where it came from. He knew that she wanted to confront him and make him stop, assure him that she would take care of it. She probably wanted to cry. It was likely she already had. But she also knew that she couldn't afford to do any of that.

So she just left it alone.

Yuuki had learned long ago that there were a lot of things they couldn't afford.

* * *

Mitani was waiting for him when Hikaru returned to the record shop.

"You're late." Mitani told him as he grabbed Hikaru by the arm and dragged him out of the store, the very second he had walked in.

"I hadn't been made aware that we had arranged a meeting!" Hikaru protested indignantly, more ruffled by the accusation that he had missed an appointment than the fact that Mitani was manhandling him out onto the street.

"I've been waiting for you for the past three days!" Mitani snapped, still dragging Hikaru alongside him as they headed down the street.

Hikaru winced and tried not to look guilty. Truthfully, he had been playing with a group of Shiba-inu in the gardens of the Imperial Palace all afternoon.

"As I said," Hikaru cleared his throat gruffly, not unlike the stuffy noblemen he caught on a lie. "I was unaware of your intention to meet with me."

Mitani groaned tiredly, hand still gripping Hikaru's arm. "I don't even have time for your ridiculousness right now. Just follow me and shut up."

"How dare you." Hikaru huffed, though he did as he had been told.

Hikaru was supremely glad of his extensive research into modern day life when Mitani dragged him underground into the subway.

"Do you have a card?" Mitani asked him as he dug into his bag for his wallet.

"I am not a peasant." Hikaru produced a shiny new transport card from thin air.

Mitani tapped his card against the reader, waiting for Hikaru to follow behind him.

"You're more likely to be a 'peasant' if you have one." Mitani pointed out as he hurried them towards the trains.

Hikaru stared down at the card in his hand.

"Whatever." Mitani pushed him onwards by his shoulders. "We can't miss our train. And when we get there, do as I say and just stay outside until I tell you to come in."

Hikaru twisted around, dumbfounded.

* * *

A little while later, Hikaru was hiding behind a bush just past the light of a streetlamp alongside the road, outside of an apartment building.

This apartment building wasn't like Sai's. It was only two levels, dimly-lit, with all of the doors facing the front. And the door Mitani had disappeared into was on the second level, visible past the narrow stairway open to the elements.

Hikaru had watched as the light was turned on when Mitani walked in through the door. And two sets of shadows had moved around inside, past the thin curtain, before one of the shadows (the larger one) had thrown open the door, calling out a farewell behind her as she ran down the stairs.

She had passed right by Hikaru's bush, but was in such a hurry that she hadn't noticed the boy hiding behind it.

Hikaru peeked out and watched the young woman as she had hurried away in the direction of the subway. The family resemblance was obvious. She had the same red hair, cat-like eyes, and harried demeanor, as far as Hikaru could tell.

"She's too old for you."

Hikaru nearly flew into the air. But managed to stay on the ground when he looked up at Mitani's frowning face, arms crossed over his t-shirt.

"Everyone always falls for my sister." Mitani glared down at him. "But she isn't interested."

"I assure you that I have not the intention to propose marriage." Hikaru huffed indignantly.

"Who said anything about marriage?" Mitani asked in confusion. "And why are you wearing a cape?!"

"You told me to hide!" Hikaru reminded him as he stood up, silk cape still over his head.

Mitani had already begun walking off, back towards the apartment. "You're attracting more attention wearing that than you would without it."

"I needed it to hide!" Hikaru protested, trailing behind Mitani, cape fluttering in the wind.

Mitani's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Where did you get that anyway? You didn't have it when I saw you at the record store."

"I didn't have it on at the record store." Hikaru answered. "I've learned my lesson."

"…What?" Mitani frowned, completely baffled.

Then he sharply turned and faced Hikaru.

"Don't tell me that you had your chauffeur or whatever drive all the way here just to give you that!" Mitani shouted, outraged.

"It is the job of all servants to serve." Hikaru answered, face passive as he donned the familiar mask of noble bearing.

Mitani only looked even more exasperated.

"Whatever. I don't want to contemplate what crazy rich people do, you crazy weirdo."

Hikaru deigned to say nothing, if only out of politeness because Mitani was inviting him into his home.

The apartment was small, but carefully designed not to feel like it. What little furnishings there were had been pushed along the walls, leaving the center of the room open. The tatami mats were clean and well-kept. And there was tea waiting for them on the low table.

Hikaru looked around curiously, noticing the touches of the teenage boy living there. A punk rock poster on the wall. A neat line of vinyl records beside an old record player. An expensive (if older-model) cell phone beside the black wallet with the long silver chain attached to it.

"I was late today because of you." Mitani told him as they sat down at the table.

Hikaru naturally settled down in smooth, well-practiced seiza as Mitani merely flopped down onto the floor.

"I will not apologize for what I did not do deliberately and could not otherwise prevent." Hikaru sniffed, holding his chin high. "As a nobleman, I would never seek to purposefully cause insult."

"Geez," Mitani rolled his eyes at him. "I was just going to explain that it made my sister suspicious."

"How so?" Hikaru asked in surprise. As far as he had been able to discern, children often came home late in the modern day.

"It doesn't really matter." Mitani huffed. "But I hope whatever help you're offering is worth all of this trouble then."

Hikaru graciously allowed the change in subject, magnanimously straightening the long robe sleeves that weren't there as he gathered his thoughts.

"Am I to assume that you're accepting my help then?"

"Idiot." Mitani muttered under his breath, disguising it by immediately taking a sip from his tea cup.

Hikaru glared at him, then purposefully slapped both of his hands atop the table. Mitani jumped, nearly spilling his tea. He glared at Hikaru.

"I kindly thank you for your gracious and obliging hospitality." Hikaru ignored the part where he had been manhandled down the streets and forced to hide behind a bush, for the sake of their future relationship. "But now, we must leave."

Mitani asked flatly, "What?"

"All will be explained. But not at this time and not at this location!" Hikaru exclaimed dramatically, rising to his feet.

Mitani looked up at him dubiously, but in the end, only sighed and slowly got to his feet.

Hikaru stopped at the door to tie his cape around his neck.

"Let's be off, Mitani!"

"Weirdo idiot." Mitani muttered under his breath as he collected his things, stuffing his wallet, keys, and phone into his pockets before flicking off the lights to the apartment.

* * *

"You live here?"

Mitani stared up at the luxury apartment building in front of them. The newly-constructed, high-rise building was brightly lit, complete with ornamental grounds, and an underground parking structure. Basically, the exact opposite of Mitani's apartment building.

"My residence is here." Hikaru responded impatiently, gesturing for Mitani to catch up already.

Despite himself, Mitani jogged the few steps to rejoin Hikaru. He already felt as if he didn't belong here. The only reason he wasn't being thrown off the property (or into a jail cell) was because of the other boy with him.

Mitani looked nervously at the obvious-guards in the expensive suits as they entered the massive lobby.

There was a huge crystal chandelier hanging over the pristine white marble floors. And an empty lounge area set aside in the corner beside a grand piano. In another circumstance, Mitani would have snorted at how typical rich people were.

"Hikaru-sama," The pretty receptionist behind the front desk executed a textbook bow, her voice completely free of anything other than respectful politeness. "We're very happy to have you back."

"Thanks, Nee-san!" Hikaru grinned brightly at the young woman, having run up to the desk in an entirely carefree fashion. "This is my friend, Mitani!"

The receptionist turned preciously to bow perfectly towards Mitani. "We humbly welcome your visit, Mitani-san."

"Err…thanks." Mitani mumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"We don't need an escort, Nee-san, Guard-sans!" Hikaru announced cheerfully behind him as he ran off.

Mitani uncomfortably jogged to catch up, feeling the eyes of the again-bowing receptionist (somehow) and the three guards from the lobby on them as he stopped beside Hikaru in front of the elevator bank.

"Escort?" Mitani whispered to Hikaru as the elevator doors opened and the two boys stepped inside.

"Guarded escort." Hikaru nodded, as if it were a perfectly reasonable thing to have in one's apartment building.

Mitani decided not to question it. Instead, he glanced warily at the camera in the corner of the elevator.

They were the only ones in the elevator, and the only ones to get off on their floor. The hallway was short, with only two doors. One at the end in either direction.

Hikaru turned to the right, walking them right past the large floor-to-ceiling windows and the hanging artwork in gilded frames.

He didn't have a key, only slid open a hidden access panel just under the doorknob and entered a code as a liquid rainbow light flashed between the clear buttons.

"Sai!" Hikaru yelled as soon as he opened the door. "Tadaima! And I brought a guest!"

Mitani looked nervously at the entrance hall, which was already bigger than his entire apartment.

"Hikaru?" A surprised voice floated from somewhere inside as Hikaru shut the door behind them and then proceeded to sit down and yank off his shoes.

Cautiously, Mitani followed suit. He hadn't even known that what they were sitting on was a seat. It looked like a very expensive ornamental antique.

Considering the absolutely ridiculous cost of this apartment, it might just be.

A tall, pale man appeared before them. Long purple hair, wide violet eyes. He was dressed casually, slippers on his feet. And from the look on his face, had obviously not been expecting them.

"This is Mitani." Hikaru introduced flippantly before slipping past Sai into the apartment.

Sai and Mitani just stood there, and stared directly at one another.

"Oh, uh, welcome." Sai finally remembered his manners, politely welcoming his guest.

"Thanks." Mitani stiffly replied as he hopped past Sai and into the apartment, in the direction he thought Hikaru had gone.

Luckily, the fancy glass wall partition opened out into the main room itself. And Hikaru was immediately visible, having flopped onto one of the seats on the incredibly long couch.

Mitani glared at him as he took a seat beside Hikaru.

Sai wandered into the living room, looking even more lost and confused than when he had met them at the front door.

"This is Sai." Hikaru introduced.

Sai looked at them, blinking.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mitani." Sai attempted to smile comfortingly at Mitani.

Mitani just stared back at Sai blankly.

Sai dropped his smile.

Then Hikaru clapped his hands, calling their attention.

"Sai, meet your new student!" Hikaru grinned.

"My _what_?!" Sai exclaimed fearfully.

"His _what_?!" Mitani growled at Hikaru threateningly.

"Student." Hikaru nodded at the both of them firmly. "This is the start of the Sai Study Group! Mitani will be your first student! Banzai!"

"I don't have a study group!" Sai exclaimed shrilly.

"What are you talking about?" Mitani asked Hikaru directly. That Sai guy seemed to have even less of a clue to what was happening than Mitani did. "What study group? And why would I be in it?"

"Sai is the Honinbo-Kisei-all-the-titles holder." Hikaru answered with an elaborate wave of his hand. "With him, you'll be a professional go player in no time."

"And when did I tell you that I wanted to be a professional go player?" Mitani demanded.

Hikaru just blinked back at him. It had been obvious to him.

**"HIKARU!"**

Hikaru yelped as Sai suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him all the way across the room. For a guy who just sat around playing go all day, Sai had a surprisingly strong grip.

Shoving the Heian ghost into the corner, Sai cast a wary glance at the other child sitting on his couch, who watched them closely with a narrow-eyed gaze.

"Hikaru, who is this child and what have you done to him?" Sai demanded in a harsh whisper.

Hikaru crossed his arms over his chest. Everyone was being so difficult.

"I've already explained. He's your new student."

"I don't have any students!" Sai reminded him.

"And that's the problem." Hikaru threw his arms out at his sides to emphasize the point.

Sai slapped one hand over his face, somehow already completely worn down simply by the start of this conversation.

"You can't just disappear for three weeks and then show up with mysterious children." Sai snapped, with certainty this time. "And what have I told you about capes?"

Hikaru pouted. It wasn't his fault capes had fallen out of fashion in the modern day era.

"He has the potential to be a great player." Hikaru told Sai stubbornly.

And because he was too curious for his own good, this caught Sai's attention.

"In what way?" Sai asked.

"He's a great cheater!" Hikaru responded triumphantly.

Sai nearly slapped Hikaru in the head.

"Across a great variety of games." Hikaru nodded with tremendous pride.

Sai really did slap Hikaru upside the head that time.

"OW!"

Across the room, Mitani snickered.

When both pairs of eyes immediately turned to look at him, Mitani became very engrossed with the view outside the window.

"That isn't an indication that he would be a great go player." Sai turned back to Hikaru with a frown.

"But it is an indication that he _could_ be a great go player." Hikaru argued, rubbing at his head. "He has intelligence enough to understand when he can't win, and the ruthless decisiveness to create advantages. And he hasn't been caught yet! Only by me, and only because I'm a ghost!"

Sai glanced over at the red-headed child on his couch. Nothing about the boy seemed like a go player. From his bright hair, his aggressive gaze, to the trendy gray jeans and band t-shirt, down to the black-and-white striped socks with the tiny white skull-and-crossbones, none of that screamed 'go player'.

"Alright," Sai reluctantly agreed to Hikaru's reasoning, even if he were still hesitant to believe it. "But why him?"

"He's not a bad person." Hikaru answered seriously. "He's just in a bad situation. And I don't think anyone's ever offered to help him. Not the kind of help he actually needs, at least."

"Why would you think we could help him?" Sai demanded in a whisper. "I certainly don't think I can help him!"

"He needs money, so he's cheating. He's cheating because he doesn't have the skills to win. He doesn't have the skills to win because no one has guided and taught him properly." Hikaru answered him truthfully.

"Hikaru, I don't think—"

"If you teach him, Mitani won't need to cheat to win. And if he wins he'll become a go pro. And if he becomes a go pro, then he would make money and stop cheating!"

Sai sighed. He wanted to believe that, he really did.

Hikaru caught his gaze with the seriousness in his own. It was not just determination to do, but the determination that what they were doing was right and just.

"You can help him by caring enough about him to teach him. I'm asking you to allow him to become his own man, Sai."

Sai rubbed his hand over his face again, groaning.

"You have made the honorable choice, Sai." Hikaru grinned at him, before twisting around Sai to give Mitani the thumbs-up.

Mitani stared back at Hikaru, unimpressed.

Hikaru only grinned back. It was the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I made Mitani sad.  
> 2016.07.18


	7. Hikaru the (Grand) Teacher!

Sai wandered into the kitchen, sleepy and still dressed in his pajamas.

"Good morning." Sai yawned as he took his customary seat at the table.

"Good morning, Sai!" Hikaru cheered as he floated over to the table, setting the last of Sai's breakfast in front of him.

It was an occurrence so normal now that Sai had come to expect this routine in the morning.

Ever since Hikaru had returned from his weeks-long disappearance, and they had sat down and had a long conversation (ie. Sai had angrily lectured) on not disappearing for weeks on end, Hikaru had dutifully appeared every day.

As Sai chewed on a piece of toast, he glanced over at his Heian roommate.

Hikaru was dressed in full Heian regalia again, this time in silk robes of bright orange and dark blue embroidered with colorful white and black cranes. The outfit was made even more ridiculous by the kitchen apron Hikaru donned when cooking. (It was pale pink, decorated by a sakura tree scattering petals everywhere, and _lots_ of ruffles.)

Sai watched as Hikaru easily floated over the tiled floor of the kitchen, humming cheerfully as he wiped the countertop.

"Do you ever need to eat?"

Hikaru's head dipped backwards. Yet, the black hat atop his head stayed perfectly in place. Either by the two long black ribbons that tied it under Hikaru's chin, or some kind of ghost gravity, Sai didn't know.

In response to Sai's question, Hikaru thoughtfully placed his hand under his chin, his socked feet continuing to dangle in the air.

"I don't have to." Hikaru finally answered him. "But I do enjoy the indulgence occasionally."

Sai glanced down at his breakfast.

"I've been wondering… How did you learn how to cook? I didn't think Heian nobles had to do that."

"Ahh," Hikaru stretched like a starfish in the air, laying back with his hands behind his head. "Truly, I had not been required to learn such skills as a nobleman. But it's really boring to continue existing for a thousand years."

Hikaru pouted, looking put off by the reminder.

"My education has expanded greatly in my long lifetime, Sai." Hikaru sat up in the air. "You need no longer fear many things, for I am a capable man!"

Sai sighed. And glanced down at his breakfast again.

"Are you ever going to tell me how you managed to convince everyone that you actually lived here?"

Hikaru grinned, throwing Sai a V for Victory hand sign in reply.

Sai sighed, again.

Whatever and however it had come to this, Sai had never sat at this table so regularly or so often. Truthfully, he had no idea how to use his kitchen. He had mostly just left that room alone since he had moved in.

And even more truthfully, Hikaru's cooking was delicious and he knew all of Sai's preferences.

Done with his work in the kitchen for now, Hikaru floated to sit in seiza atop the other end of the long dining table. There was a poof of smoke, and suddenly, an antique lacquered Japanese-style desk was atop the table.

Sai took a sip of his tea, no longer perturbed by this particular display.

Hikaru ceremoniously untied and unrolled one of the set of different-sized silk scrolls atop the desk. This was the green one, imprinted with seals of flying bats for some reason.

"Your schedule today: the next in the series for the Oza title match, convening within the Room of Profound Darkness." Hikaru announced somberly, in the way one announces battle plans.

Hikaru then lowered the long silk scroll just enough to look Sai in the eye.

"Have you prepared dutifully to meet the challenge?" Hikaru demanded.

Sai nodded with confidence.

"I have, General."

"Well, you better have!" Hikaru shouted, slamming the scroll atop the desk with a loud thunderclap. "Losing to the likes of such a despicable opponent is unacceptable!"

"I've won in straight games!" Sai reminded Hikaru.

"And yet!" Hikaru stabbed his suddenly-appearing war fan at Sai's face. "The enemy has managed to give you a challenge in the last meeting! Why has such occurred?"

"We stayed up late playing go! That was your fault too!" Sai protested, slapping the war fan away. "And I won that game anyway."

"Pft!" Hikaru allowed the fan to disappear in a puff of smoke. "You shall face punishment for your insolence, Horse!"

The bat-covered scroll quickly floated up, folded itself, tied its own ribbon, and returned to its place atop Hikaru's desk.

And the yellow silk scroll imprinted with a seal of dragons floated open instead.

Sai groaned into his hands.

It was the largest scroll. And inside, listed after the ink illustration of the game, there were a set of numbers elegantly transcribed by Hikaru's own hand.

"I shall start at the beginning." Hikaru announced solemnly, settling comfortably at the desk for a long session.

Sai grimaced. Hikaru looked like a very grim judge, preparing to pronounce Sai's fate.

"Oza Title Match. Best of five games. Second game of series, played between Title Defender (Sai) and Title Challenger (Zama)…"

Sai would be forced to sit there as Hikaru relentlessly recited all of the moves of his last game, ruthlessly questioned Sai on his play, and then ended it with his harsh final critique.

Sai would be lucky that Hikaru didn't throw penalties at him. Those wooden tablets really hurt when they hit you.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Mitani asked flat out.

Hikaru pouted.

"This is your moment of achievement!" Hikaru declared loudly. "You have become Sai's student, and won the junior high level tournament for the Haze Go Club to great credit to your sensei. And today, you move ever forward in your chosen path by accepting a place amongst the profession!"

"Shut up, you idiot!" Mitani hissed.

The people passing by the automatic glass doors of the Japan Go Association all stared at the two boys as they passed on the sidewalk.

Mitani grabbed Hikaru by the collar and forcefully tossed the embarrassing ghost into the lobby.

"I've come to share in your success at becoming professional, Mitani! I have done nothing wrong." Hikaru waved both his arms in the air as he was manhandled.

"I'm a long way from turning pro." Mitani seethed with rage, fists clenched tightly at his sides. "I'm just turning in my application for the insei program."

Hikaru pouted. "But Sai was already a pro before he was in junior high."

"Yeah, well, Sensei is a genius who never needed the insei program." Mitani mumbled, his frown penetrating deeply enough to cause a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

Hikaru recognized Mitani's bad habit immediately.

"Comparison between oneself and others is no true measure of growth, Mitani." Hikaru stated in a scholarly fashion. "We all progress at our own pace."

Mitani glared at him. For talking.

Hikaru gazed thoughtfully into the distance for a moment.

"Longevity—"

"Do not start one of your useless poems to give me a weird lesson again!" Mitani snapped. "I don't even understand them."

"Mitani, the composition of poetry is a vaulted skill amongst the high court!" Hikaru gasped, before shaking his head in disappointment. "Really, the education of today."

"Stop acting like an old man! And why are you dressed like that?!"

Hikaru's kimono was black, with a design of two large white-and-black-feathered cranes standing atop a rock in the sea. Waves splashed across the bottom of the robe and across Hikaru's sleeves. The red-crowned birds perched just behind Hikaru's knees, their bodies decorating his back.

"Sai is defending his Oza title today. I have dressed formally for the occasion." Hikaru announced proudly.

Mitani frowned at him. "You look like a little boy going on your first shrine visit."

Hikaru huffed, nobly folding his arms within the voluminous sleeves. Really, Mitani had a complete lack of fashion sense sometimes.

"If you're going to Sensei's match, why are you here?" Mitani demanded. "I told you that I could do this myself at least three times yesterday!"

"But this is your moment of achievement!" Hikaru protested. "You've come so far in the few months we have been acquainted."

"I'm just turning in a packet of papers!"

"As your friend, I'm showing my support of your endeavors." Hikaru nodded nobly.

"We're not friends!" Mitani snapped.

Then he turned on his heel and angrily marched off.

Hikaru pouted behind him. But did not let that deter him in the slightest as he followed Mitani.

"But _Mi-ta-ni_!" Hikaru whined. "We are more than just friends! You're Sai's student. And Sai is my student. In a way, I'm your grandpa!"

Mitani nearly tripped.

"YOU'RE NOT MY GRANDPA!"

"Oho!" Hikaru sneakily grinned into his hand. "My cute grandson is embarrassed."

The flustered volunteer behind the Go Association's welcome desk had no idea what to do as the two boys somehow ended up wrestling each other in front of her desk.

It wasn't until the elevator dinged and the metal doors slid open and the volunteer saw salvation.

"Ogata-sama!" She called out, full of hope.

The tall, blonde go pro turned with faint interest.

"Ahh, it's you." Ogata remarked with mild surprise.

He hadn't looked at the young woman who had called out to him at all.

Hikaru abandoned his wrestling match with Mitani. Mitani fell off balance, rumpled and red from anger. Hikaru appeared completely unaffected.

"Announcer-pro!" Hikaru recognized him.

He grinned at Ogata and gave the go pro a wave.

Ogata just blinked back at him. But stepped closer to where Hikaru and Mitani stood.

Mitani huffed, glaring suspiciously at the approaching man in the white pants, a white dress shirt, even white shoes.

Mitani made sure he was positioned between Hikaru and this new weirdo. As weird as the other boy was, Hikaru was also an idiot who probably didn't recognize the threat of potential predators.

"What are you doing here?" Ogata addressed Hikaru.

"Ogata-sama!" The volunteer behind the desk cried out in distress. "These two boys have been fighting in the lobby!"

Ogata looked even more intrigued.

"Really?" He asked thoughtfully, looking at Hikaru before noticing Mitani for the first time.

Hikaru nodded, having no fear of honesty. Mitani just glared at Ogata.

Ogata continued his study of the both of them, unperturbed.

"Who won?"

"Ogata-sama!" The volunteer began to look completely confused.

"You, right?" Ogata indicated Mitani. "You look like you would win in a fight."

"What does that mean?" Mitani ground out through his teeth, both jaw and fists tightly clenched now.

"Or maybe Hikaru." Ogata hummed to himself thoughtfully. "He won the game against Akira at the Children's Go Tournament."

"What does that have to do with physical fighting?!" Mitani demanded.

Rather than question it, Hikaru only nodded in apparent understanding.

"Don't nod! You don't understand it either!"

"Ogata-sama! Please escort these two off the premises!" The volunteer tried again, desperate.

Ogata looked from her, back to the two boys, and then at the clock behind the desk.

"Do you two have official business with the Go Association?" Ogata asked them conversationally, totally at ease. "Lunch is almost over. That's a good time."

Both Mitani and the volunteer stared at him.

"We're here to turn in an application!" Hikaru announced cheerfully.

"Job application?" Ogata asked, completely serious. "I can put in a good word for you, depending on the position you're seeking."

"INSEI!" Mitani shouted, frazzled out of his mind.

"Ahh." Ogata nodded in understanding. "Insei application."

The poor volunteer behind the desk was about to start crying.

"I do believe that the insei application deadline has passed." Ogata belatedly remembered, consulting his mental calendar.

"Yes…you are…correct…Ogata-sama…" The volunteer struggled to hold back her tears. "The…insei application…deadline…has… _sniff_ …passed."

"I'll sponsor you of course." Ogata gave a decisive nod. "You have my full recommendation. Though,"

Ogata addressed Hikaru.

"In my professional opinion, it would be better for you to skip right to the pro exam rather than take the insei exam."

Ogata then glanced at Mitani.

"I've only just met you," Ogata addressed Mitani. "So I'll have to trust your judgement on your own skills."

"We've only just met!" Mitani shouted. "You don't have to do anything for me!"

"Mitani!" Hikaru hissed as he grabbed Mitani's arm. "He's helping us!"

"He doesn't have to!" Mitani shook him off. "And we don't even need it!"

"Ogata-sama!" The volunteer had started openly sobbing now.

"I don't see any problem here. I'm well within my rights as a pro to sponsor prospective insei." Ogata stated with only mild bafflement.

Mitani gave an incredulous look at both the sobbing receptionist and the unaffected go pro dressed all in white.

"No need!" Hikaru announced cheerfully. "Mitani is correct. Sai is already sponsoring Mitani! Mitani is his treasured student!"

For the first time throughout this entire encounter, Ogata looked at Mitani with sharp eyes.

"Fujiwara-pro has another student, does he?" Ogata studied Mitani carefully.

Mitani wasn't sure whether to give Ogata a death glare or a very wide berth.

"No, Sai only has the one!" Hikaru answered obliviously. "That's why Mitani is his treasured student!"

"Are you saying that I wouldn't be if Sensei had another student?" Mitani's hands itched to choke the ghost.

"I thought you were Sai's student." Ogata interrupted, pointing at Hikaru.

"Pft!" Hikaru crossed his arms into his large sleeves. "Certainly not. I'm the general!"

Ogata nodded in complete acceptance, filing away this knowledge.

"Ahh. So, you're the general."

Hikaru nodded at Ogata with satisfaction.

Mitani just stared at all of this incredulously.

"Here's my application. Everything's there. I don't need a receipt." Mitani decided to end the insanity, sliding the packet of papers across the reception desk.

The receptionist nodded and accepted the papers dutifully.

Mitani then turned back to Hikaru (who was now actively cheering for him) and then looked over at the completely stoic face of Ogata.

"If you kidnap him, I know your name and your face." Mitani glared directly at Ogata.

Ogata only blinked back at him.

Mitani then turned back to the pest that always seemed to be around these days.

"Hikaru, it's done and I'm leaving."

"Goodbye, Mitani!" Hikaru waved happily to him as Mitani headed for the door. "Congratulations on your latest achievement!"

"Don't talk to me!" Mitani called out, disappearing out the doors.

Hikaru was unaffected. He cheerfully turned to Ogata.

Ogata just stared down at the enthusiastic child he had been left with, not making any move to actively interact with it.

"Sai's playing his Oza game here." Hikaru grinned. "I'm returning there."

Ogata nodded with understanding.

"Perhaps I'll join you." Ogata suggested with idle interest. "My schedule is free today."

Hikaru gave Ogata a thumbs up.

"It's a massacre! Sai is in top form!"

Ogata nodded with satisfaction and followed alongside Hikaru as they headed for the elevator, Hikaru chattering excitedly about the Oza match the entire time. Ogata was satisfied by this as well; he couldn't stand the useless talk of children, but go was ageless.

And on that day, a certain volunteer's crush ended as she finished her shift crying silent tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between updates. (I don't know which one I was more obsessed with: Pokémon Go or the Olympics.)  
> 2016.08.24


	8. Hikaru Defends Sai!

As the holder of all of the major national titles, Sai had unquestionably devoted his entire life to go. But there was simply nothing else Sai wanted to devote his life towards. Go had always been the most important thing to Sai, from before he could even remember.

Yet, nowadays, his world was no longer singularly filled with only go-related activities.

"Faster, Horse!" Hikaru demanded as soon as they had gotten off the elevator. "Onwards!"

"At your command, General." Sai humored him, resignedly following in Hikaru's whirlwind footsteps.

They were, uncharacteristically for Sai, taking a day off. Hikaru had declared at breakfast that go had been strictly forbidden today, with penalties to be thrown if Sai dared to disobey. Not only did it really hurt when those solid wooden tablets smacked him in the face, but Hikaru had labelled them all with actual penalties. All exercise.

Sai had already earned three; adding up to a 2km run, a straight sprint up the stairs, and five minutes in the sauna.

"Isn't there anything you like to do besides go?" Hikaru huffed upon noticing Sai's slow pace, propping his hands at his hips as he looked judgmentally back at Sai.

So far today, they had gone to the Tokyo Dome, had lunch at the zoo, and visited Disneyland. Sai had shown mild interest in all of those things, but the exact same interest each time.

"We could have done what you liked." Sai said. He had been surprised when Hikaru had suggested all of these modern-day attractions, actually.

"But you didn't want to go to any temples, shrines, or gardens." Hikaru muttered to himself, arms crossed as he stared thoughtfully at the ground. "And you never showed any interest in castles or hot springs back then."

"Huh?"

Sai was certain he hadn't said anything of the sort. He knew just how much Hikaru enjoyed old-fashioned activities. He would never be that callous.

"Let's just enjoy ourselves here!" Hikaru declared, looking even more determined to have fun, simultaneously looking too determined to do it.

Sai gave Hikaru a strange look, but decided that it would be best (as always) to just go along with whatever Hikaru wanted.

"I had always wanted to visit the Skytree…" Sai mused absently.

The Tokyo Skytree was the tallest structure in all of Japan, the tallest tower in the world. And Hikaru had declared that their day would not be complete without seeing it.

Sai walked up to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows with Hikaru, their gazes trained outwards as they strolled around the highest observation deck the tower had to offer.

Tokyo spread out in a blanket of lights below them, vast and unending. But it was not the city that Hikaru was looking at. His gaze was turned upwards, at the bright moon and the faint stars overhead.

And it was quiet up here, everyone hushed and speaking softly to one another. Perhaps because the lights were so dim. Perhaps because there wasn't any music being filtered over the speakers. Whatever the reason, Sai enjoyed this peacefulness here.

"Let's take a picture, Sai!"

Sai didn't even get to reply before Hikaru was dragging him close.

"One. Two. Three. Smile!" Hikaru was already grinning widely, the camera held in his outstretched hand.

Sai hoped he hadn't blinked in that picture.

"OK!" Hikaru gave a thumbs up, head down as he expertly scrolled through the photographs.

Sai hadn't even known he had a camera, though vaguely recognized it when it appeared in Hikaru's hand. There seemed to have been something Hikaru needed to photograph every five minutes. Sai chalked it up to novel enthusiasm.

"Now, let's get down to the restaurant." Hikaru announced. "It's time for dinner!"

"Restaurant?" Sai asked.

"I made reservations." Hikaru answered with a grin and a V for Victory hand sign, walking backwards towards the elevators.

Sai sighed, shaking his head in bemusement. He shouldn't even be surprised anymore.

Not just restaurant reservations, but Hikaru had already bought all their tickets and planned all their routes before the day began. Sai's schedule wasn't one where there would be many opportunities for days off. They hadn't wasted a single moment of this one.

And just like lunch, Hikaru had taken the liberty of ordering their dinner ahead of time.

"I didn't even get to look at the menu." Sai sulked, out of principle. He was beginning to feel as if Hikaru were treating him like a child.

"Don't sulk, Sai. Eat your cake."

Sai glared at Hikaru from over the restaurant specialty: a bright yellow, star-shaped cake stuffed full of fluffy crème. It looked exactly like the Tokyo Skytree mascot.

Hikaru just grinned back at him from across the table, enthusiastically digging into his Skytree cheesecake.

Well, it was good cake.

"You had fun today? Huh, Sai?" Hikaru asked between too-big forkfuls of cake on a too-small fork.

Sai smiled reassuringly back. "Of course I did, Hikaru."

Hikaru made a face at him.

"I don't believe you." He told Sai skeptically.

Sai can't help but laugh at that. It's short and not at all loud, but Sai doesn't laugh often, and so is surprised by his own actions that he stopped in surprise. And though he still doesn't fully believe Sai, Hikaru looked proud of himself anyway.

Reflectively, Sai looked out the pane of glass that separated them from the outside. Across the table sat Hikaru, who looked smaller in the tall cushioned seats of this restaurant. At the moment, he actually looked like a child, instead of the overwhelming Heian spirit that's completely taken over Sai's life.

As depressing as the thought is, Sai doesn't recall his last day off. Not time off for necessary reasons, but a day off just to have a day off. Though he's lived in Tokyo for over a decade now, he's seen very little of it. He'd never gone to Tokyo Dome or the zoo or Disneyland before today. And though he remembered spouting all of the facts and eagerly tracking the progress of its construction, Sai had never visited the Skytree either.

Sai smiled softly, still peering out into the sea of sparkling lights that made up the city. He hadn't been lying. Today had been a good day.

"Ahh, how disappointing. It appears that they serve trash here."

The good mood instantly shattered. Sai froze immediately, sharp particles of ice penetrating his veins.

"Come now, Sai." That unwelcomed, familiar voice chided condescendingly. "At least have the decency to greet me properly."

"G-Good ev-evening…" Sai swallowed, forcing his body to stiffly turn to meet the other man. "C-Cousin Sakurai."

The family resemblance was undeniable. The two cousins shared the same violet hair, pale skin, and delicate features. But while Sai's hair was long, Sakurai's was short. While Sai's violet eyes were gentle, Sakurai's golden eyes were intimidating. And somehow, just by placing those glasses on his face, Sakurai had offset his delicate features to appear sharper, more angular, more likely to cut down those in his way.

Sai nervously rubbed his sweating palms against his plain trousers, feeling severely underdressed in just a simple white button-up in the face of Sakurai's sharply tailored suit.

"I-I didn't know you w-were in To-Tokyo." Sai stated unsteadily, still unable to meet the other's gaze. He kept his gaze anywhere but, eyes flickering beyond the other man's shoulders for the brief moment he was expected to face his cousin.

"A last minute business trip." Sakurai replied casually, nudging his glasses up the bridge of his refined nose. "Though, if I had known we would run into each other, I would have gone somewhere else."

Sai's gaze dropped down to the ground, mind racing to say something, anything.

"I—I…" The words wouldn't come.

Sai felt Sakurai's cold, unmoving gaze upon him, and faltered even more.

"I-I'm s-sorry to have ruined y-your evening." Sai managed shakily, his hands tightening around the cloth napkin over his lap, hidden by the tablecloth.

"And who is this?"

Rather than blurt out his name as he always had in front of strangers, Hikaru remained stoically silent. He sat upright, staring unseeingly across the table. And when Sai looked at him, surprised by his silence, he physically flinched back at the sight.

He had never seen Hikaru look this enraged.

"I heard through the family grapevine that you picked up a student." Sakurai continued, unperturbed. Sai's cousin didn't even care enough to acknowledge Hikaru's lack of response.

Sakurai clicked his tongue with disapproval, not seeing anything interesting in his study of Hikaru.

"I had thought you were disgraceful enough. But now you've started to produce other worthless trash, Sai."

Hikaru's mouth thinned into a very tight line. And despite the humiliation and mortification Sai felt, he felt more compelled to stop whatever explosion was building across the table.

"Cousin Sakurai—" Sai tried, only to be cut off.

Hikaru started to laugh. _Madly._

The laugh was so shocking that Sai and Sakurai just stared, watching as Hikaru laughed so hard that he collapsed, loudly banging his hand atop the table. Sai flinched every time Hikaru's palm slammed against the surface, jostling plates and utensils with each impact.

And just as suddenly as it had started, Hikaru abruptly stopped it.

Sakurai nearly took a step back, just barely managing to control himself before he did. He stared uncomprehendingly at the harsh, unflinching grin that had been carved across Hikaru's features.

This was not the expression of a child.

"You sure like to tell funny jokes, Sai's cousin." Hikaru grinned up at Sakurai, head still lying atop the table, but expression no less terrifying and unsettling.

Then Hikaru's tone changed sharply, ominous and dark as he stated,

"It's best to do the things you like. _While you're living._ "

With another grin, sharp enough to cut through human bone and flesh, Hikaru unapologetically returned to his sitting position.

Sai and Sakurai both watched as Hikaru picked up the little plastic fork next to his cake, twirling it between his fingers as he hummed a nonsense song and childishly kicked his feet underneath the table.

It was ridiculous. That tiny child's utensil was bright yellow with a smiling star at the end. Yet, the hair on the back of Sai's neck was standing on end. As if he were precariously balanced right now, with safety to one side and the dark maw of something inconceivable on the other. The slightest breeze could tip them in either direction. And both cousins had no choice but to wait on the edge, as if Hikaru were twirling a sharp knife in his ready fingers.

Hikaru stabbed the tiny plastic fork into his cheesecake. Both Sai and Sakurai flinched.

Hikaru grinned up at them, the picture of an innocent child. But the chilling air didn't abate.

"Ahh…yes." Sakurai attempted to fill in the oppressive silence Hikaru had left, nudging his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

His cousin's hand had been shaking. And as Sai studied his cousin's carefully-controlled breathing and ramrod-straight posture, he realized that Sakurai was scared.

"What an astute child you are." Sakurai coughed nervously into his hand, avoiding eye contact with Hikaru.

He was avoiding looking in Hikaru's direction at all.

"You're funny, Sai's cousin." Hikaru stated cheerily, before singing, **_"I hope you don't D-I-E!"_**

Sakurai flinched violently, colliding into the empty table behind him, the clatter of waiting dishes and silverware unnaturally loud within the sudden, overwhelming silence.

And Sai swallowed, resisting the creeping urge to glance behind him. His survival instincts told him not to move a single muscle.

But it felt as if there were hundreds of shadowy creatures at his back, hungry and raving and just waiting for their order. An order from a creature they viewed as higher than themselves, not through such things as logic and loyalty, but because the ones above them were even more terrifying.

"I have lots of friends." Hikaru randomly stated, nodding his head.

Then the Heian ghost met Sakurai's eye. And that statement wasn't random at all.

Sakurai didn't even bother to pretend otherwise.

"I have to go."

His cousin fled, not even a second glance behind him as he ran out the door.

Sai released a breath he hadn't known he had been holding, staring wide-eyed across the table.

"Che." Hikaru spat, stuffing another bite of cake into his mouth.

The oppressive, haunted atmosphere had left with Sakurai, moving off of Sai like the lifting of a cloak of shadows. And Sai vaguely wondered if…whatever that had been…were still following his cousin.

Sai shivered at the thought.

"We were having such a good time too!" Hikaru protested childishly, mouth full.

Sai recoiled at the sight of Hikaru's cake-stuffed mouth, responding by pure habit,

"Hikaru, that's disgusting."

Hikaru grinned cheekily back at Sai, purposefully adding another forkful and loudly chewing with his mouth open.

And just like that, everything had been returned to normal.

* * *

Despite the return to normalcy, in which Hikaru was a ridiculous and childish Heian ghost again, the memory of their encounter with Sakurai stayed in the back of Sai's mind.

It had been…disturbing. He had never experienced anything like that, not from Hikaru. Even in the terrified first moments of their fateful meeting, Hikaru hadn't actually been scary. He had been loud and overbearing and absurd. And in all their time together, despite whatever Sai may feel obligated to protest, Hikaru had been a cheerful and welcomed presence in his life.

Now though… Now, Sai was aware that it could be otherwise. That he didn't really know Hikaru, who Hikaru had been, how he had died, perhaps had only scratched the surface in all that Hikaru was capable of.

After they had returned to the apartment, Hikaru had shooed Sai off to take a bath, like usual. But Sai had stayed in there longer than usual. By the time he had left, the water had gone lukewarm and his skin had pruned all over.

Sai hesitantly exited the hallway into the main room.

Sai's usual after-bath drink was waiting for him on the little round tray Hikaru had placed on the coffee table. It was always chilled to the perfect temperature. Tonight, it was a little yellow box of banana milk.

Hikaru had changed from the modern-day clothes he had worn out, back into his Heian robes. This set was forest green and sunny yellow, the silk imprinted with a near-invisible bamboo pattern. And Hikaru's black noble's hat bounced up and down in the air as Hikaru floated around, doing whatever he usually did in the evening.

Every other night, Sai would relax into his (slightly-uncomfortable) couch and enjoy his after-bath drink. He even particularly liked this one. The corners of the top of the box had been colored green to look like the ends of a banana.

Tonight, he had to try four times before he even got the straw into the box.

"Sai!"

"Yes?!" Sai shouted as he jumped to his feet, hand squeezing his boxed drink so hard that banana milk squirted out from the straw.

Sai looked in horror at the mess he had made.

"Geez, don't waste that." Hikaru scolded with a pout, hands on his hips. "It's delicious."

Sai nodded absently.

Hikaru floated away, into the kitchen. He returned with a cleaning rag, one end of it wet.

"Anyway, you took so long in the bath that I finished this!" Hikaru declared.

With a flourish, Hikaru pulled an item out from thin air, holding it triumphantly above his head to the sound of silent trumpets.

Hikaru floated over to Sai to deposit the mysterious item into Sai's hands.

"What is it?" Sai asked dumbly.

"Don't be dumb, Sai." Hikaru's floating form dipped down to clean up the mess Sai had made with his banana milk. "Open it!"

Sai nodded absently, sitting back down onto the couch with the mysterious item in his lap.

It was a photo album. A very expensive old-styled photo album of rich leather, bound in the traditional-style with an ornate cord, the ends hanging in tassels.

Sai smiled as his fingers traced over the cover, which depicted an austere Heian-era general in full armor beside an enormous decorated warhorse.

After a moment, during which Hikaru had floated away to return the cleaning cloth, Sai finally opened the album.

The pages inside were thick and colored black to better showcase the photographs. Photos had been held in place by golden corners. And the selection of pictures chronicled Sai and Hikaru's day out, assembled within the album with thought and care.

But when Sai opened the album, it wasn't a photograph that he saw first. It was a child's drawing, the edges yellowed by age.

Sai recognized it immediately, though hadn't thought of it at all until seeing it again right now. His eyes widened at the sight of the long-forgotten memory, staring in complete disbelief.

At the very top, a painstakingly-careful hand had labored to write " **I WANT TO GO TO TOKYO** " in crayon, each character a different bright color.

Underneath the curls of letters, there were drawings instead of words. A group of rainbow lines for the Tokyo Dome. An orange and black shape that must have been a tiger, to represent the Ueno Zoo. And a pointy castle with too-large flags, Tokyo Disneyland.

At the very bottom, more colorful characters had very-carefully written out " **WITH MY FRIEND!** ", spaced so awkwardly that the blocky characters nearly fell off the edge of the page.

And at the very center of this drawing, drawn larger and with more detail than any of the other crayon scribbles, there was a child with purple hair and violet eyes holding hands with a nondescript friend. But both boys were smiling happily, happy together.

Sai could vividly remember drawing this now. It had taken him the entire day. He had gone so slowly and carefully, so not to make a mistake. And he remembered checking the characters a hundred times, again and again, to make absolutely certain that he transcribed the simple sentence correctly.

"I never knew why you wanted to go to Tokyo so badly." Hikaru huffed as he floated back into the room.

Sai looked up, staring at the ghost dressed in Heian robes, familiar and strange at the same time.

Looking back down at the drawing, Sai's fingertips nearly brushed over the child version of himself. And then lingered over the bright characters for " **FRIEND** ".

He had drawn this not because he had wanted to take a trip. Not really. He had just imagined a friend, and then imagined the most fun he and his friend could have together.

But Sai hadn't had a friend. Not then, and not any time after that. And later, he had even forgotten about this drawing.

"You were such a strange kid. You were obsessed with Tokyo!" Hikaru threw his arms up in exasperation.

Sai watched as Hikaru tumbled backwards in the air, floating into a seated position. He carefully waved his arms, just so, in order to make sure his long robe sleeves were displayed prominently. It was a habit Sai had noticed plenty of times before, something old and noble that Hikaru had never been able to shake off.

In many ways, Hikaru was nothing at all like the mythical friend Sai had always imagined.

But—and Sai was startled by the realization—Hikaru was also everything he had ever hoped for in a friend.

"And then, after you got here, you got so obsessed with that weird Skytree!" Hikaru rambled on, before glaring at Sai. "Not that you ever went to that either."

Sai only smiled up at Hikaru, not at all offended. He understood why Hikaru had worked so hard to make this day perfect now.

"I'm glad we got to go. Together." Sai told Hikaru.

Hikaru responded with another huff, but settled down with obvious satisfaction.

"Thank you, Hikaru." Sai stared down at his old drawing. "I had forgotten about this."

"Of course you would have." Hikaru muttered under his breath. "What kind of maniac remembers their childhood drawings?"

When Sai looked over at Hikaru in question, Hikaru immediately cleared his throat to redirect attention.

Then proceeded to state, quite nobly,

"One of the best qualities that make you who you are, Sai," Hikaru told him, his gaze steady and sure. "Is your love of go."

Sai opened his mouth in surprise, an automatic denial ready.

Hikaru held up his hand, halting Sai immediately.

"So Sakurai is wrong." Hikaru held Sai's gaze with absolute certainty. "He's wrong."

A large part of Sai wanted to deny it, still felt an obligation to his cousin. Yet, there was also that other, small part of Sai that wanted to believe Hikaru. And it was that shameful, traitorous part of Sai that kept him from stopping Hikaru.

"I've watched you grow and change through your love of go." Hikaru continued, unstopped. "It took decision, determination, focus, and hard work to accomplish what you have, Sai. And as insulting as this is to me, your garbage cousin will likely always be unable to see that. My only hope is that you will be able to see it in yourself."

Sai was silent, staring down at the drawing in his lap. He didn't think he had even fully processed all of Hikaru's words. But a part of him, long frayed and worn out, had slowly begun to weave together. And, slowly, ever so slowly, Sai had allowed himself to feel relieved.

Hikaru gestured to the album, his movements elegant and refined despite the overflowing length of his sleeves.

"But I also hope that you remember that you once had more hopes and dreams. More than just go."

Hikaru watched sadly at the way Sai held the photo album so very carefully in his lap.

It was a habit, one Hikaru had seen develop and then continually watched as it was reinforced, time and time again. Until it had become all Sai had ever known.

Sai's fingers barely brushed against the pages, as if he were afraid to touch it at all. Afraid that this one happiness would go away faster if it were not carefully cherished and tended to. Because there would not be any others after it.

"You are allowed happiness, Sai." Hikaru's voice softened. "More than just the one."

Sai struggled to swallow all of the overwhelming emotions back down his throat. Already, tears stung in the corners of his eyes. It was taking everything to hold them in, not to let them fall.

Even worse, Sai didn't even know why he was crying.

But Hikaru didn't say anything more, understanding without words that what Sai had needed then had been nothing at all.

Just the quiet company of a friend who understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the most difficult chapter I've had to write for this story yet!  
> 2016.09.16


	9. Hikaru Hides with Mitani!

Hikaru had been afraid of this, but Sai's unexpected encounter with his family had destroyed what little progress Hikaru had been able to make.

Well, it hadn't affected Sai's playing. But Hikaru wasn't aware of anything that would.

Sulkily, Hikaru watched over the lesson Sai was giving Mitani. They were sitting in Sai's living room, the goban specifically used for teaching Mitani set up on the table. And Hikaru had just arrived with snacks and drinks, signaling a break in the session.

"Have you looked over those books I gave you last week, Mitani-kun?" Sai asked as Hikaru shoved a sandwich under his face.

"Yes, Sensei." Mitani nodded dutifully, producing the small stack of go-related books from his bag.

Sai nodded approvingly.

Mitani waited. Then looked up at Sai with a questioning look when nothing happened.

When Sai didn't appear to notice, Mitani loudly cleared his throat.

"Sensei, I enjoyed Fundamental Principles of Go by Yang Yilun a lot."

Sai blinked up at Mitani.

"Oh."

Then nodded and took another bite of his sandwich.

Mitani looked over at Hikaru.

But the Heian ghost only huffed and crossed his arms, looking aggrieved.

"Sensei, please excuse me. I will be right back."

Then Mitani grabbed Hikaru by the arm and forcibly dragged him out of the room. Hikaru stumbled over an ottoman, nearly falling face-first into the floor. But Mitani just grabbed the back of Hikaru's shirt and bodily lifted the ghost the rest of the way.

Sai didn't even bat an eye at the display, watching the two boys disappear into the kitchen.

Mitani shoved Hikaru in the corner furthest away from the living room, glaring at Hikaru with his arms crossed.

"Alright, what's happened to Sensei?" Mitani demanded.

Hikaru huffed, tugging at his clothes to straighten them into a semblance of propriety.

"What makes you think something is wrong with Sai?"

Mitani's eyes narrowed.

"Because Sensei always quizzes me over the most random details of every book he gives me. Not even because he doesn't think I really read them, but because he just enjoys those random details. And he didn't bring up even a single weird background fact or something today. So, tell me what's wrong with him because something is obviously wrong with Sensei."

As Hikaru looked back at Mitani, Mitani glared at him.

"You are more astute than I have formerly believed, Mitani." Hikaru responded with astonishment.

Mitani felt a vein pop along the side of his head. He clenched his fists and repeated the mantra that he would not hit the other boy, he would not hit Hikaru, he would not hit that idiot.

Meanwhile, Hikaru peered out of the kitchen and into the other room. He observed the back of Sai's head, still nibbling on the sandwich Hikaru had shoved into his hands. Sai stared blankly at the empty television screen, not even curious about the noise in the other room.

Hikaru turned back to Mitani, folding his arms exactly so.

"There are some issues that I cannot diverge." Hikaru answered Mitani seriously.

Mitani raised an eyebrow at him, wondering exactly what this meant.

Hikaru sighed.

"I really can't tell you." Hikaru confessed.

Mitani looked from the depressed Hikaru and back towards the utterly robotic version of Sai in the other room.

Hikaru was obviously trying to help, in his own Hikaru-ish way. But Sensei had completely shut down. So, whatever this was, Mitani couldn't just ignore it and hope that it would go away on its own.

"Well, what can we do to help Sensei?" Mitani turned to Hikaru.

Hikaru glanced up at Mitani hopelessly, only for his eyes to widen in realization.

"That's it!"

Mitani leaned away from Hikaru now.

"What?" Mitani asked warily.

Nothing good ever came from that reaction of Hikaru's.

Hikaru made sure that Sai was still sitting sadly in front of the television, and then leaned in even closer to Mitani.

Mitani leaned even further away. Unfortunately, he was stopped by the refrigerator and couldn't get any farther.

"Meet me at the Go Association tomorrow, Mitani." Hikaru whispered urgently, grasping hold of Mitani's forearm before the other boy could successfully slip away.

"We'll save Sai together!"

Hikaru's gaze was bright and sure. But Mitani knew to react to that look with even more caution than the first.

"What does us being at the Go Association tomorrow have to do with Sensei?" Mitani demanded, attempting (and failing) to shake Hikaru off of him.

"Just trust me!"

Mitani gave him a hard look.

"No."

Hikaru exasperatedly rolled his eyes at Mitani.

"If you care about Sai at all, you'll do it!"

Mitani wavered uncertainly, glancing back at Sai's lonely figure and then warily back at the intense gleam in Hikaru's eyes.

He really, really, really didn't want to do it… _but…_

* * *

Mitani sighed as he stood in front of the Japan Go Association.

Casting a passing glance upon the familiar sign above the door, Mitani wondered about his life choices as he stepped inside.

"Alright, I'm here."

Mitani crossed his arms and frowned. "Now what?"

He glanced, unimpressed, at where Hikaru was hiding behind a pillar near the elevators.

"SHH!" Hikaru loudly shushed him before pulling Mitani forcibly behind the pillar as well.

Mitani glared down at Hikaru. Still, he rubbed at his arm where the other boy had grabbed him. Hikaru was surprisingly strong.

"They can see us from that direction, you know." Mitani hissed, indicating the elevators behind them.

"We only need to be sure that they can't see us from this direction."

"Are you going to explain to me your horribly-wrong logic on that?"

"Oh yeah!" Hikaru exclaimed, suddenly remembering something.

He shoved something into Mitani's arms.

"Wear this, Mitani!"

Mitani sputtered down at the object.

"Why do I have to wear a cape?!"

"So they can't see us, Mitani!"

"Is that what you think?"

Hikaru grabbed Mitani (and the cape) and began to wrestle the article of clothing onto Mitani himself.

"What do you think—!"

"Let go of—!"

"How are you so strong?!"

"OW! Alright! You maniac!"

Mitani looked out from behind the pillar near the elevators, a silk cape pulled over his ears.

Hikaru stood on the other side of the pillar, also dressed in a silk cape.

For a moment, Mitani lamented his current ridiculous situation. Also, he sighed at the fact that he had, once again, been pulled into Hikaru's insanity literally within moments of meeting up with the other boy.

This was one of the many, many reasons he had wanted to refuse yesterday. But Sensei needed help. And if the only one who cared enough besides Mitani was this idiot, then Mitani better help or the idiot might kill himself trying to help Sai.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Mitani muttered, ignoring the way the volunteer behind the front counter was staring at them.

"Hmm…" Hikaru hummed thoughtfully.

"A man, I think. Around Sai's age. Someone interested in go, for sure. Preferably a go player. Personality wise: quiet, patient, and willing to take the time to understand."

Mitani gave Hikaru a flat look.

"Are we looking for a date for Sensei?"

Hikaru looked puzzled.

"Why would I look for fruit at the Go Association?"

Mitani gaped at him.

"Mitani," Hikaru leaned forward to whisper with the utmost seriousness, tightening his grip around the cape.

"We are doing one of the most important things for Sai today."

Mitani gulped, surprised by the sudden seriousness in Hikaru's gaze. He listened intently, surprised that Hikaru had a deep enough understanding of his sensei's problems to come up with a deliberate and genuine plan.

"We are looking for Sai's friend."

Mitani gritted his teeth, ignoring his first instinct. Which was to punch Hikaru straight in the face.

"We're _what_?"

Hikaru nodded seriously.

"Sai doesn't have any friends. We're searching for one."

"That's not something we have a say in!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mitani! This noble one has every say and every right over his horse's life. Now, help me pick out a good friend for your sensei!"

Mitani lunged for him. To stop Hikaru. To make Hikaru pay for dragging him out here for no reason. To hurt the idiot.

Before their fight could progress to the point where the both of them would run endlessly around the pillar, a voice spoke up.

"Hmm…I think Hikaru-kun will win again."

Both boys stopped immediately. Mitani had stopped while lunging for Hikaru, hands gripping the cape near Hikaru's throat. And Hikaru had been stopped while fending Mitani off, trying to push Mitani away at the shoulders (and getting thwarted by the silk material).

The two of them were hugging the pillar between them.

Ogata Seiji looked back at them thoughtfully, hand propped underneath his chin.

"Ogata-pro!" Hikaru cheered, face pressed against the pillar.

Reluctantly, Mitani let go of Hikaru's cape. He still glared at the unwantedly-familiar go pro though. Quite deliberately, Mitani let the white-clothed weirdo know that he _remembered_ him.

"Hello." Ogata greeted the both of them, face completely blank of emotion.

Mitani felt a nerve tick along his right temple. Something about Ogata just really ticked him off.

"And Akira too!" Hikaru exclaimed happily.

Mitani glanced behind Ogata, at the unfamiliar boy behind him.

He raised his brow at the sight of the slightly-less-weird go pro. Even if they had never met, Mitani already knew who Touya Akira was.

And Touya Akira was somehow pulling off a lavender suit with an orange tie. Briefly, Mitani wondered if all professional go players ended up with bizarre fashion senses after they turned pro, or if all of them had already dressed like that before turning pro.

Hikaru waved to Akira.

And Akira just stared back at him, still too shocked to respond.

"I didn't expect to see you here today, Hikaru-kun." Ogata commented.

Then he studied both Hikaru and Mitani.

"And you and Mitani-kun match today."

Hikaru brightened at the mention, proudly showing off his cape.

Mitani had forgotten he was wearing it. So, he attempted to glare a hole through Hikaru's head.

"Why were you fighting in the lobby?" Akira asked.

Akira had not expected to see two boys his age fighting in the lobby, dressed in capes, when he had exited from the elevators. Finding out that one of them was Hikaru only made it slightly less surprising.

"I believe that is how their friendship works, Akira-kun." Ogata explained, completely reasonable. "This is the second time I've caught Hikaru-kun and Mitani-kun fighting each other in the lobby of the Go Association."

"That is not how our friendship works!" Mitani protested.

"Oh! So, we are friends!" Hikaru crowed with delight.

Mitani attempted to make Hikaru's head explode through the strength of his furious glare.

"Mitani-kun is Sai-sensei's treasured student." Ogata repeated faithfully.

Akira narrowed his eyes at Mitani.

"But Hikaru-kun is the general." Ogata nodded, remembering.

As if in complete understanding of the other, both Hikaru and Ogata nodded meaningfully.

And Mitani was ready to throw his hands into the air. Because this entire encounter was, once again, a complete mess.

Not only was Mitani already deep within Hikaru's insanity, Mitani was now being pulled into the spiraling vortex of Ogata's weirdness.

"What are you and Akira doing at the Go Association, Ogata-pro?" Hikaru asked.

Then Hikaru looked curiously at Akira as well, eyes sparkling as he awaited an answer.

"I played the first of the Shinshodan Series today." Akira answered nervously, wondering why he was so unnerved by Hikaru's sparkly expression.

"Ohh?" Hikaru stepped closer to Akira. "Who did you play against?"

"Zama-pro."

Hikaru made a disgusted face.

"Ew. I hate that guy." Hikaru resolutely tucked his hands under his cape, lifting his chin high into the air.

Akira glared at the memory of his introductory game.

"I do not particularly like him either."

Ogata whistled.

"That's the same as Akira-kun outright declaring war." Ogata leaned towards Hikaru and Mitani to disclose.

Mitani leaned bodily away, even if Hikaru were between him and the other go player.

Akira flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry I missed your game, Akira." Hikaru said sincerely.

"That's…" Akira replied uncertainly. He was a little disappointed, actually. "…It's alright."

"And congratulations on turning pro!" Hikaru grinned at him. "I look forward to following your career as a professional go player!"

"Aren't you going to become a professional?" Akira asked, remembering his sharp disappointment in not seeing Hikaru at the exams.

Hikaru only blinked back at him, blank and uncomprehending.

Akira clenched his fists at his sides.

"You're more than good enough." Akira told him. "I'm proof of that!"

If Hikaru had been at the exams, Akira wouldn't have gone undefeated. He was sure of this. Even more sure than he was in his own skill as a go player.

At Hikaru's side, Mitani snorted.

"This idiot?" Mitani jabbed his thumb in Hikaru's clueless direction. "He's definitely not going to turn pro."

Hikaru nodded sagely.

"Yes, Mitani is correct. I have already dedicated myself to remaining a wise and knowledgeable tutor."

"You're going to become a go teacher?" Akira exclaimed in astonishment.

"A teacher of all things, Akira!" Hikaru waved his arms grandly, silk cape fluttering. "And my sole pupil will be Sai!"

Akira stared at Hikaru in disbelief. Mitani too.

Ogata took a moment, but then nodded in understanding.

"A venerable ambition, Hikaru-kun."

Akira and Mitani both turned to Ogata, incredulous.

And Hikaru's eyes sparkled.

Then sharpened as he studied Ogata carefully.

Ogata just stared back at Hikaru, merely waiting for what was about to happen.

"Ogata-pro…"

"No." Mitani's eyes widened.

"…I would like to extend the invitation upon your distinguished personage…"

"No." Akira breathed.

"…towards becoming Sai's friend!" Hikaru grinned, giving Ogata an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

For a moment, Ogata only blinked down at Hikaru, obviously uncertain in how he should respond. He studied the preceding conversation very carefully in his mind, and then very seriously considered the offer.

He bowed respectably before Hikaru.

Both Mitani and Akira continued to look on in horror.

"I humbly accept, Hikaru-kun."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q: Where was Kouyou-sensei during all of this madness?  
> A: Praising his son's Shinshodan game to Kuwabara-sensei back in the viewing room.  
> 2016.10.31 Happy Halloween!


	10. Hikaru Meets Turtles!

As the holder of all the major national go tournament titles, Sai was a very busy man. He had not only his official matches to play and prepare for, but also the occasional interview or lecture or new instructional series or event appearance or any number of things that just piled up until he had no life whatsoever.

But Sai loved go. There wasn't anything in the world he loved more than go. So, he had never minded his heavy work schedule. Even if it overtook his life. To be honest, he hadn't had a social life to speak of before go either.

Yet, Hikaru had apparently decided that this was unacceptable. And as the faithful horse, Sai had no choice but to heed the general's orders.

"This one is the oldest. Since he was the first, I named him Kouyou."

Sai kept the pleasant expression on his face by sheer will alone. And even then, that mask was slipping.

"Oh. Is that so?" Sai remarked neutrally, face twitching in his efforts not to crack.

Ogata Seiji only nodded, his gaze not even glancing over at Sai.

Instead, he continued to crouch before the enormous habitat in his apartment, watching the unperturbed brown and yellow turtle gazing back at them with its dark, immoveable stare.

"A suitable tribute to one's sensei." Hikaru nodded eagerly from Ogata's side.

"I thought so too, Hikaru-kun." Ogata remarked, before looking thoughtful. "But Kouyou-sensei didn't react as I had expected…"

Meanwhile, Sai was internally screaming from where he stood beside them.

Across the room, Mitani and Akira exchanged glances as they watched everything from the kitchen table.

They had all been invited to Ogata's apartment that afternoon. And Sai had never even had a conversation with the other go pro about anything other than go before. So, he had been more than surprised when Hikaru had announced that they would be socializing with the man at his home.

But Sai had never expected this. He could never even have imagined this.

"And the smaller one there, the green one," Ogata pointed towards the corner of the habitat, where a second turtle was hiding in its shell.

"That one is named Akira. He's shy at first around newcomers, but he'll demand attention once he gets accustomed to you."

At the kitchen table, Touya Akira's face burned bright red. Akira had to grip tightly at his knees, to prevent himself from hyperventilating.

Sai stared down at the two turtles he had just been introduced to. The larger one was brown with yellow spots. The smaller one was green with light-green stripes. But both bore a surprising resemblance to the other in terms of the nearly-identical shape and patterns of their shells.

"This is a splendid family of turtles you have assembled, Ogata-san!"

"Thank you, Hikaru-kun." Ogata leaned back, proudly admiring the habitat. "I'm quite fond of them."

"Ne, ne," Hikaru looked up at Sai shiningly. "It's really impressive! Right, Sai?"

Sai forced his facial features to twist into a politely-impressed look.

"The size of the habitat is certainly…unexpected."

Ogata Seiji's apartment was surprisingly-large for a single person to live in. But Sai had a feeling that Ogata didn't consider himself as living alone, and had chosen the square footage of his residence based on that fact.

Directly in front of the door, there was a square of space just wide enough for the door to be opened and closed with one person standing there. The floorboards had been pried out completely, the entire space redone in gravel and a wide variety of rocks. The floor was heated. And there was a feeding/watering station, as well as a basking station, and a complicated heat lamp system to mimic the movement of the sun.

The turtle habitat covered the entire front hall and spilled into nearly half of the living room. The way into the apartment was indicated by the scattered line of smooth stones making a footpath. And glass partitions at knee height kept the turtles from wandering into the strictly-human parts of the apartment.

"This environment is the work of many years." Ogata nodded from where he was crouched beside the glass, eyes trained within it.

"You have a very impressive home, Ogata-san!" Hikaru enthused from where he was crouched alongside Ogata, still looking at the turtles.

Ogata had no hesitation whatsoever accepting the compliment.

"Thank you, Hikaru-kun."

Sai looked around the rest of the apartment.

Besides the overly-large turtle habitat within it, Ogata's home was actually very plain and ordinary. The standard two-bedroom, one-bath apartment was centered around a combined kitchen-dining-living area. And the décor was minimalistic and actually pretty forgettable.

The white walls were free of decoration of any kind. The sofa set was plain and white. And Sai couldn't even see any personal ideas, not photographs or books or even a goban.

"You don't have a TV, Ogata-san?" Sai asked in surprise.

Ogata turned to him then, absolutely serious in his question as he asked Sai,

"Why watch anything else when you can watch turtles?"

Warily, Sai glanced over at the overly-large turtle habitat again.

"Oh, yes, how silly of me." Sai responded flatly.

Mitani snorted at Ogata from the table.

"Wow, even Sensei has a TV."

Akira's eyes sharpened.

"What kind of programs do you enjoy watching, Fujiwara-sensei?" Akira asked.

For some reason, Sai had the feeling that Akira was prepared to pull out a notebook and take notes.

"Oh, Sai doesn't watch television." Hikaru waved the notion away, before snickering. "He's a boring old man."

Sai's eye twitched violently. The last person he wanted to hear that from was the thousand-year-old Heian ghost haunting him. But when Ogata glanced at him, Sai only smiled benevolently over his simmering rage.

"What kind of programs do you enjoy, Hikaru-kun?" Ogata questioned conversationally as he finally stood up and they all moved away from the turtles. (They had been standing there for at least half an hour.)

They entered the living room, Sai and Ogata taking their seats on the armchairs across from one another over the coffee table.

"Historical drama! The Heian period is the best!" Hikaru declared proudly.

But then Hikaru stopped to sadly shake his head.

"Yet, disappointingly, there are many historical inaccuracies in such programs."

As Ogata regarded this thoughtfully, Sai decided to leap onto a new conversation topic before Hikaru could give a point-by-point analysis of accuracy for basically every historical drama that had ever been filmed.

"Not to be rude, Ogata-san," Sai leaned forward in his seat.

Ogata looked away from Hikaru to Sai, curious about what this was about.

"But why was I invited here?"

Sai then glanced over at Hikaru, Mitani, and Akira sitting side-by-side along the couch.

"And why did you invite Hikaru and my student and Akira-kun?" Sai asked, even more baffled by the company of a trio of children.

"Hikaru-kun issued the first invitation." Ogata responded, taking a sip from his coffee. His white pants nearly disappeared into his white couch as he crossed his knees.

Sai's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

"I only invited Ogata-san!" Hikaru explained, crossing his arms as he pouted. "You and Ogata-san were supposed to meet with each other today, just the two of you!"

"Stop making it sound like a date, idiot!" Mitani turned to yell at Hikaru.

"Were Ogata-san and I scheduled to play a game today?" Sai frowned uncertainly. "I didn't have anything marked down for today's date in my work calendar."

Mitani slapped his hand against his face, hiding himself from the shame.

"The two of you must be related." Mitani grumbled under his breath.

Both Sai and Hikaru only blinked back at Mitani, not getting the joke.

Ogata casually set his cup and saucer down onto the coffee table.

"Yet, that still doesn't explain Akira-kun's appearance here today." Ogata stated, folding his hands neatly over his knees.

Immediately, everyone turned to stare at Akira.

Akira flushed, hands balling into fists at his sides.

"I've come to challenge you to a match!" Akira declared boldly, despite how red his face was from embarrassment.

Sai looked remorsefully at the new pro.

"I'm sorry, Akira-kun. But it seems I've forgotten that I have a match with Ogata-san today."

Mitani threw his hands into the air in exasperation.

Akira looked alarmed, face paling as he stared up at Sai.

"Not you!"

Sai looked hurt at Akira's words.

"I-I-I mean…" Akira began to wave his hands. "It would, of course, be an honor to play against you, Fujiwara-sensei—"

"Akira-kun, if you had wanted a match with me, you should have waited until our next study group session." Ogata looked disappointedly at his kohai.

"But I didn't mean you either!" Akira cried out in distress.

Now, there were two hurt go pros looking at him, one from either side.

Akira wished the ground would swallow him up. Or that he had a shell to hide in like Akira the Turtle.

"Why would you come all the way here to challenge Mitani to a match, Akira?" Hikaru exclaimed.

Hikaru pointed at Mitani.

"He wasn't even supposed to be here!"

Akira gaped at Hikaru with complete disbelief.

Mitani slapped Hikaru in the back of the head.

"Why would he come to challenge me?" Mitani demanded. "I'm just an insei! I'm nowhere close to being a match for him!"

" _Mi-Ta-Ni_!" Hikaru cried out, tears in the corners of his eyes. "Why did you hit me?"

"Because you can't hurt stupid!"

Hikaru continued to rub the back of his head, looking sulkily at Mitani.

"I…I…" Akira looked down.

"I was here to challenge you, Hikaru-san." Akira finished weakly, defeated.

"Me?" Hikaru exclaimed, now pointing at himself. "But why would you want to challenge me?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Mitani scoffed at Hikaru's glaring obliviousness.

"You beat him in a match before, moron!"

At Mitani's other side, Akira regained some of his energy to nod in confirmation of this.

"Ahhh…. OH!" Hikaru remembered. "I did!"

"That's right." Ogata remarked as the thought came to him. "Akira was certain that you would appear during the pro exam. He specifically waited to take the summer one."

Sai frowned. The Children's Go Tournament felt like ages ago. And the summer pro exam was already a distant memory. He hadn't known that Akira had wanted a re-match against Hikaru for so long. He had mistakenly believed Akira had gotten over his defeat when he stopped asking Sai about Hikaru.

Akira glared at Hikaru.

"That turned out to just be a rumor."

"Weird." Hikaru remarked, reaching for his teacup.

"I mean, why would there be rumors about me... You know?"

Mitani's eyebrow twitched. He looked like he really wanted to slap the cup out from Hikaru's hands.

Ogata leaned forward to tell Hikaru conspiringly,

"You were all Akira-kun would talk about for months, Hikaru-kun."

Akira's face burned from embarrassment.

Hikaru blinked, still sipping his tea.

"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A GAME!" Akira leapt out from his seat, pointing clearly at Hikaru this time.

"LET US FACE EACH OTHER IN A REMATCH, HIKARU!"

His face was still burning from embarrassment, but Akira wasn't about to be deterred a second time.

"Ehh?" Hikaru's brows furrowed. "Why?"

Akira's brain short-circuited. It couldn't even understand the question.

"W-We… But y-you…" Akira stammered. "…Ri…vals…"

"Yeah, why?" Mitani snorted from his seat. "You'll save yourself a headache if you skip out on that game, Touya."

Sai cut off the protest before Hikaru could open his mouth and put them in even more trouble.

"And what is your reason for being here then, Mitani-kun?"

Mitani immediately put all the blame on Hikaru by pointing straight at him. And rightfully so.

"I'm here to stop him from dragging you into his insanity, Sensei!"

Hikaru pouted.

"You've been depressed for a while now, so we wanted to cheer you up. And this idiot's—"

"Hey!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"—idea was to set up this friendship meeting." Mitani ignored Hikaru. "Which isn't really a thing. It's just crazy! Because you can't pick other people's friends!"

Now done, Mitani crossed his arms and glared in general at everyone in the room. And he remained purposefully bitter about it.

Sai looked on in surprise. He hadn't expected that kind of explanation.

And then he smiled softly at his student.

"Thank you for thinking of me, Mitani-kun."

Mitani focused his attention upon his sensei immediately.

"I'm sorry to have worried you." Sai said sadly.

"You don't have to apologize, Sensei!" Mitani protested immediately. "People can't help what they feel."

Sai was genuinely apologetic towards his student, even more so after hearing that.

"But I'm the adult, and you are a child, Mitani-kun." Sai reminded Mitani, not unkindly.

"I'm apologizing to you because I worried you so much that you felt that you needed to do something about it. And you shouldn't have to feel personally responsible for my actions, Mitani-kun. It is my job to help you, not yours to save me. It is the responsibility of the adult to look after the child."

As he listened to Sai's apology to him, Mitani lost his will to fight, allowing it to bleed out of him slowly. He had never been told before that someone had taken upon the responsibility to care for him. Even with his sister, they looked after each other.

In the end, Mitani had nothing to say. Instead, he focused his gaze upon the cup of juice that remained untouched in front of him.

"And Hikaru…"

"Hai!" Hikaru raised his hand, sitting at attention.

Sai shook his head at the Heian ghost.

"Why would you even think that you could set up friendships?"

"Why can't I?" Hikaru challenged, narrowing his gaze upon Sai.

At that, Sai could only sigh in resignation. He certainly hadn't been able to stop Hikaru from doing what he wanted any other time before now.

"I agree with Hikaru-kun."

Everyone turned to stare at Ogata as he lounged in his armchair.

It was Mitani who broke the deafening silence following Ogata's remark.

"What?" Mitani asked tersely.

Ogata only blinked back at him, unperturbed. He reached to pick up his cup and saucer again, and took a sip of his coffee.

"I don't see why people can't be set up to be friends. You really only need to introduce one to the other. It's up to the two individuals to foster any friendship between them afterwards. And there's certainly no obligation to if there's a lack of interest from either party."

Mitani felt a blood vessel burst somewhere. His blood pressure must have gone through the roof. He was probably having a stroke.

Because Ogata actually had some really good points.

"Yay!" Hikaru cheered. "My plan worked!"

"No, it didn't!" Mitani snapped at him.

"What do you think, Sai-san?" Ogata addressed Sai. "We're males of the same age. We share the same profession, so we clearly have similar interests. And I have no complaints about your company in terms of temperament or quality. I think that's basis enough for a friendship."

Sai just stared incredulously back at Ogata.

"I'm not an expert," Sai told Ogata. "But I don't think that's how friendship works."

"It's not!" Mitani supported Sai immediately.

Ogata just shrugged.

"Maybe that's how our friendship works." Ogata told him.

Sai paused to look thoughtfully down at his tea. It wasn't a false argument.

"Do you even have any friends?" Mitani asked Ogata suspiciously.

Ogata stared back at Mitani, mid-sip.

"Hikaru-kun and I are friends."

"No, you're not!" Mitani shouted. "You can't be friends with a kid!"

"Why not?" Hikaru interjected. "Akira's friends with Ogata-san!"

Akira shifted nervously in his seat.

"I think I'm seen strictly as a kohai for Ogata-senpai."

Ogata looked at Akira in surprise.

"I never suspected, Akira-kun."

Akira stared at Ogata in incomprehension.

"We can be friends if you want." Ogata said kindly.

Akira hid his face in his hands.

"And you're friends with Sai!" Hikaru continued shouting, pointing at Mitani.

"Sensei is my sensei!" Mitani shouted back at Hikaru. "We're better than friends!"

Despite how ridiculous the declaration was, Sai was actually very flattered.

"Well, I'm Sai's sensei!" Hikaru defiantly crossed his arms and turned away from Mitani.

"So, we're friends by inheritance, Mitani."

"No, we're not. How does that even work?" Mitani demanded. "And we're not even talking about our friendship right now!"

"Ahh! So we are friends!" Hikaru exclaimed, turning to look at Mitani with sparkly eyes.

Mitani physically recoiled away from him, knocking into Akira who had been hiding his face in his hands still.

"You finally admit it." Hikaru said, teary-eyed.

Mitani grabbed Hikaru by the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the couch, shaking him.

"If Sai and I are friends," Ogata mused thoughtfully. "And Hikaru and I are friends. And Akira and I are friends now…"

Akira wished he could hide inside his cup of juice.

"You and I should become friends too." Ogata pointed at Mitani.

"What?" Mitani released Hikaru, dropping the other boy onto the ground as he turned towards Ogata.

"Well, I seem to be friends with everyone else in the room." Ogata said sensibly.

"Hey! I'm friends with everyone in the room!" Hikaru realized, sitting up from the ground.

Hikaru pointed at Sai.

"Sai." 

Hikaru pointed at Ogata.

"Ogata-san." 

Hikaru pointed at Mitani.

"Mitani." 

 Hikaru pointed at Akira.

"And Akira!"

"We-We're friends?" Akira exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course we are!" Hikaru exuberantly waved his arms through the air. "We've played go together!"

"Is that really how you determine who your friends are?" Mitani asked.

"Then Fujiwara-sensei is also friends with everyone in the room!" Akira realized.

Mitani turned to Akira.

"Really?"

Mitani had just lost his only ally in this insanity.

At the very least, Akira had the good grace to look apologetic towards Mitani.

"Hikaru-kun, you and I need to play a game of go." Ogata said urgently, setting his coffee onto the table with a careless clatter.

"Yay!" Hikaru cheered from the ground.

Ogata stood up and left the room, presumably to go get a goban.

"Mitani, you and Akira should play a game together too! It'll begin the blooming of your beautiful friendship!"

"Shut up, you imbecile! I'm telling you, that's not how friendships work!"

"Actually…I wouldn't mind playing a game…if you wouldn't mind, Mitani-kun."

And through it all, Sai just sat in his chair, watching everything happen.

Then he smiled, realizing what this was.

Friendship felt warm and happy. He had never known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve changed pretty much all of Ogata’s character. And I kind of love Ogata the turtle enthusiast.  
> 2016.12.06


	11. Sai's Gift

Sai had received many gifts since Hikaru had come into his life.

There have been tangible items, like the photo album he keeps on his nightstand and looks through every night before going to bed. There have been delicious meals cooked with Sai's tastes and preferences in mind. And there have been the things Sai never sees, cleaning and laundry and Hikaru somehow impressing a good image of Sai to the neighbors that had once thought Sai to have been a recluse.

His apartment has never felt more like a home, warm and inviting and finally a place Sai looks forward to returning to at the end of the day.

But what he's most grateful for are the long games of go that always feel like an exploration of deep thoughts never said aloud. And knowing that someone in this world understands and accepts him as he is.

Sai is grateful for Hikaru's company and existence. The Heian ghost is loud and overbearing, naturally authoritative and commanding (in such a way that Sai can never help but to give in to), but Hikaru tries so hard and does so much because he genuinely cares about Sai and wants Sai to be happy.

So, Sai just wants to be able to return some of that to Hikaru.

"I've heard that you and Seiji-kun have become friends as of late, Fujiwara-sensei."

Sai grimaced into an expression that had wanted to be a smile, but was also simultaneously a frown.

He looked over at Kouyou with a flat expression. The older man had certainly been exposed to Ogata Seiji much more than Sai had.

"Seiji-kun means no harm." Kouyou said with understanding. "He simply has a very strong personality."

Sai's mouth thinned into a straight line across his face.

"I am also happy that Ogata-san and I have become friends, Touya-sensei." Sai decided firmly.

Inwardly, Kouyou was glad to hear that. Seiji really needed more friends. (Outside of the turtle variety.)

Having dealt with the pleasantries, Kouyou moved onto the heart of their conversation with open curiosity.

"What have you come to discuss with me, Fujiwara-sensei?"

Sai looked down at the cup of tea steaming in his hands, trying to gather his thoughts.

And somewhere within this house, Hikaru and Akira were playing go. The younger Touya had been insistent on the game, going as far as grabbing Hikaru by the arm and manhandling the other boy towards the nearest goban. So, Sai was fairly-certain Hikaru would not be aware of this conversation between himself and Kouyou then.

"Touya-sensei,"

Sai took a deep breath, hesitating still despite himself.

Kouyou waited patiently. That had always been the most reassuring thing about speaking with the former Meijin, that he would not rush you to act before you were ready.

"What would you recommend as a gift for Hikaru?"

In answer, Kouyou only stared at Sai in surprise. Sai doesn't think he's ever seen the other man look so caught off guard.

No longer trusting himself to hold it, Sai set down his teacup onto the tray upon the tatami.

They're sitting in Kouyou's study, which is just as traditional as the rest of the house. There are shelves filled with books, a low traditional-style desk along one wall, and two gobans set in the middle of the room. If it were not for the individual titles along the spines of the go-books, first glance into this room wouldn't have been that different from stepping into the Meiji Period.

"A gift for Hikaru-kun…" Kouyou pondered the question seriously.

Truthfully, Kouyou had expected them to have gone straight for the gobans. Sai visited the house occasionally, usually at Kouyou's request. But this was one of the rare times when Sai had requested the visit instead. Those other times, it had been a request for a strategy session or to discuss a go problem that Sai wanted to consult another go player on.

The only other time Sai had ever discussed a personal problem with Kouyou had been during the Children's Go Tournament.

In that instance, Kouyou remembered belatedly, Sai's worries had been about Hikaru as well.

Kouyou leaned back, still in seiza, to think this over.

He had not thought it would be difficult to get a gift for a twelve-year-old boy. Especially when he himself was the father of a twelve-year-old boy.

But when put into the context of Hikaru…

"That is a difficult question." Kouyou frowned.

Across from him, Sai sighed. He had expected an answer along the lines of that.

"I asked Ogata-san as well." Sai confessed.

Kouyou raised an eyebrow at this information.

"Ogata-san responded by speaking of the joys of raising a pet turtle for a quarter of an hour, and then adding that pet ownership teaches children about responsibility."

Kouyou chuckled.

"I'm afraid that Seiji-kun might not be the best person to advise you." Kouyou admitted. "My student is a bit…enthusiastic in that area."

Sai responded by giving Kouyou another flat look.

"I've been to his apartment, Kouyou-sensei. I've noticed."

Years ago, when Ogata Seiji had proudly invited the Touyas over to his new residence, Kouyou's wife had very gently, but firmly, advised Seiji against issuing too many invitations to the other go pros. (Though she had phrased it as only inviting those his turtles would want as guests.)

As Akiko had explained, it was already enough that Seiji insisted that he wear only white clothing, and had developed an odd personality as he had grown up. It was hard enough to make friends considering just that.

Kouyou grinned back at the new Meijin, suddenly even more grateful to the other man for remaining open-minded about his student.

Sai didn't look as amused as Kouyou did. Seeing this, Kouyou schooled his expression back to seriousness.

"Let us return to the problem at hand." Kouyou prompted.

Sai sighed heavily, looking dejected.

"The only other children I know are Akira-kun and Mitani-kun. And it would be much easier to think of gifts for them than it is for Hikaru."

Kouyou thought back to the ornately-formal mannerisms, and the near-dismissive attitude towards anything that didn't date back to the Heian period. And most startlingly, the heavy gravity of experience that Hikaru balanced with a radiating exuberance for life. Kouyou had only ever witnessed such an attitude in those much, much older than even Kouyou himself.

"Hikaru is…" Sai paused to frown. "Eccentric."

"It is true that I have never met another child similar to Hikaru-kun." Kouyou conceded reluctantly.

He wasn't sure of what else to say.

Sai stared down at the teacup cooling atop the tray between them.

"There's never been a person this important in my life before." Sai told him quietly.

"I'm terrified of making mistakes. And I don't know what I should be doing for Hikaru…"

Sai breathed shakily, still looking down.

"But I want him to be happy. Hikaru can't be the only one trying. I want to try my best too."

Kouyou stayed silent, unable to answer Sai.

Because for Kouyou, Sai's words carried an enormous weight.

For a long time, Kouyou had held more titles than he had wanted. He had felt stagnant and unfulfilled, as if he were waiting for something, and had been waiting for it for too long.

But then, Fujiwara Sai had appeared. And Kouyou had been able to experience many things. Rivalry, thrill, even defeat. For years, their rivalry had played out with the younger go player challenging Kouyou for his titles again and again.

He had eventually lost all of them to Sai, just as everyone had. But Kouyou had been the last holdout. And it had been, he could say this confidently, the best and most fulfilling games of his entire career.

Once, years ago, Kouyou had spoken with Akira about the hollowness of winning for winning's sake. Go should be played against someone who could challenge you to be better than you are. And for Kouyou, he had not had that honor until Fujiwara Sai.

But Kouyou had seen history repeat as Sai had kept winning again and again, but had no real rival. It seemed as if every other go player combined were Sai's chosen opponent. As if Sai had chosen to play go with everyone else sitting on the other side of the goban.

It was a desolately lonely path. And Sai had never spoken of his personal life. But given Sai's schedule, it was obvious that Sai simply didn't have one.

And for a while, that had worried Kouyou.

Even after winning all the major titles, Sai had kept playing with characteristic sharpness. Always better than the game before. Constantly evolving and changing as a player. A true genius.

But as Sai's skill reached greater and greater heights, the distance between himself and other go pros grew ever more mounting. It became impossible for Sai to connect with even his fellow go players. And it hadn't mattered if it were because of hatred or admiration; Sai had been elevated to a position where he could only stand alone.

And Kouyou had seen as Sai began to carry himself with bone-deep weariness. A kind of tiredness that never abated.

That ever-increasing tiredness of life had changed the day of the Children's Go Tournament. Perhaps it hadn't left, not yet, not then, but Kouyou had been aware of a great change in Fujiwara Sai's life.

"Fujiwara-sensei," Kouyou addressed Sai.

More than as his rival or opponent or colleague, Kouyou had come to think of Fujiwara Sai as a friend. And while Kouyou would never pry for the details, he knew with certainty that child coming into Sai's life had saved Sai.

Sai looked up, meeting Kouyou's unwavering gaze.

"That is what it means to be a parent." Kouyou told him, gaze softening as he watched Sai's shocked expression turn to mortified horror.

"Hikaru isn't—" Sai sputtered. "We're not rela—!"

"You are his primary guardian and caregiver, are you not?" Kouyou interrupted Sai to ask pointedly.

Sai's jaw clicked shut. Well, he couldn't dispute that. And given that Hikaru appeared to be a child, he could understand why Kouyou would naturally assume.

And Sai wasn't so out of his mind to ever reveal the truth.

"I don't believe that you need to show Hikaru-kun how much you care through a gift." Kouyou continued on gently. "You just try your best. You must always try your best for your child. That is all you can do."

Sai stayed silent, turning over Kouyou's words in his mind.

They weren't exactly parent and child. And if their relationship were defined in that way, it would be difficult to tell who was the parent and who was the child.

But perhaps relationships weren't always so easily defined. And perhaps Sai did think of Hikaru as his child, in a very strange and convoluted way.

Whatever their relationship was…Hikaru had become his family.

"Yes," Sai nodded slowly. "You're right, Kouyou-sensei. I'll…I'll keep trying my best. For Hikaru."

Kouyou nodded in agreement.

But Sai had always been. He had never known the younger man not to try his hardest.

"SAI!"

Both men turned towards the shoji doors as they were abruptly yanked open, two boys bodily falling into the room.

"H-Hi-Hikaru!" Sai exclaimed in alarm.

"Just one more game, Hikaru!" Akira insisted, clinging to Hikaru's back as he aggressively clawed at Hikaru's arms and wrapped his legs around Hikaru's to keep him from further fleeing.

"No!" Hikaru protested, now struggling to get out of Akira's surprisingly-good chokehold.

"You always say one more game, but it's never one more! It'll always be one more! It'll be one more game forever!"

Akira's eyes sharpened into a relentless glint.

"Then play go with me forever!"

"Never! ACK!"

Akira had just turned his chokehold into an Anaconda Vice.

Sai watched all of this with wide-eyed shock, glad that Akira had never gotten this fixated when asking Sai for a game.

Kouyou took a sip from his teacup. He had never known before that his son was so good at wrestling.

Of course, there ended up being another game. And this time, Sai and Kouyou watched and participated in the post-game discussion.

Then Sai and Hikaru were forced to stay for the delicious dinner Akiko had made them. Even though they had not meant to stay that long. Even though it was too early for dinner. Even though it was an obvious ploy to make Sai and Hikaru stay longer.

And then, Kouyou had ambushed everyone with his request for a game against Hikaru.

(Sai was almost certain that the Touya couple had low-fived each other underneath the table then.)

By this time, Hikaru had given up. And Sai and Akira had watched from the sidelines as Hikaru had beaten the former Meijin across the board. (Because giving up did not mean that Hikaru didn't have some pent-up frustration.)

The visit ran so long that there had really been no choice but for Sai and Hikaru to stay overnight, Kouyou and Akiko had insisted. And Akira had been more than enthusiastic, dragging Hikaru back to his room so they could stay up all night playing go. (Hikaru had cried.)

But eventually, the next day, Akiko had graciously allowed them to leave her home. Sai had had to promise her that they would visit again. Soon.

So, despite Akira's very vocal protests and Kouyou's silent pouting, Sai and Hikaru finally extracted themselves from the Touya home.

"Did you have fun?" Sai asked as they sat in the taxi, on their way back home.

Hikaru crossed his arms and pouted beside Sai, acting exactly as young as he looked.

"Too much fun." Hikaru declared.

"I never knew there was such a thing as too much fun before, Sai!"

Sai just laughed. Truthfully, he had just been glad that the attention had been on Hikaru and not himself after seeing firsthand the Touya Tag Team Combo. They truly were a very intimidating family.

"Hmph!" Hikaru huffed. "Well, I'll get over it. Instead, we should talk about your gift."

"What gift?!" Sai shouted.

Their taxi driver looked back at the abrupt shout. Sai clapped his hand over his mouth and silently apologized.

Hikaru looked warily at him, wondering what Sai's problem was.

"The gift for your grandmother. Remember?"

Sai's eyes widened in realization.

He had forgotten.

A summon had been sent to everyone in the Fujiwara clan, with orders to return to their ancestral home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Touya family is fun!
> 
> 2017.01.07


	12. Sai's Grandmother

The Fujiwara ancestral clan compound dated back to the Heian. It was over a thousand years old, meticulously preserved, and Sai has always dreaded being there.

But their return has been ordered from the head of the family. And so, similar to ages long past, there will be a mass exodus of the scattered Fujiwara clan as they all return to the origins of their exalted family.

Sai had made his arrangements months in advance with the Go Association. The Association moved the matches that could not be rescheduled to Kyoto. And the Go Association in Kyoto is only happy to have Sai back, as they always are when their prodigal son returns.

"Just enjoy the trip, Sai."

Hikaru is seated across from him as they take the bullet train straight from Tokyo to Kyoto. From Tokyo to Kyoto station, this trip is only two hours and twenty minutes long.

But Sai can definitely not enjoy it.

Because Sai has no idea why they've all been called back. It's not a holiday or an important anniversary. Such an order has never even been issued in Sai's lifetime. So, whatever this is, it's going to be the most important event of Sai's life.

"Why are you eating?" Sai demanded, unable to focus on anything else and unwilling to say what really bothered him.

Instead, he watched Hikaru swing his legs under his seat and enjoy the bento he purchased from the train station.

"If there's one thing about modern times that is vastly superior to the Heian, it's travel." Hikaru pointed out.

He waved a piece of fried pork cutlet in the air.

"A thousand years ago, the trip from Edo to Heian-kyo would have taken weeks. Think of all the arrangements that had to be made for the dozens to hundreds of people in a travel party. Nobles are fussy. And everyone brings their servants. And of course, there has to be guards and guides and who even wants to remember what else!"

Hikaru popped the pork cutlet into his mouth, chewing happily.

"Now, it takes a few hours and you can enjoy the scenery from comfort." Hikaru grinned, eagerly looking out of the window. "And your manservant isn't screaming in the middle of the night about monsters and demons."

Sai gave Hikaru a very perplexed look. He had never had a manservant before.

Hikaru looked back from where his face was pressed against the window, before informing Sai importantly,

"I allowed him to sleep in my room, and he still managed to wake up the entire inn. That's how loud he was."

"Didn't he just have a nightmare?" Sai asked, since there wouldn't be any actual monsters roaming around the countryside, even back in the Heian.

Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"That's why you are not a peasant, Sai."

Sai decided to leave this alone. Sometimes, he forgot that Hikaru was a ghost who was more than a thousand years old.

Things had just been…different back then.

A couple of hours later, Sai and Hikaru had arrived at their destination. And Sai had not only dreaded everything the entire time, but was dreading everything that was bound to happen during this extended trip.

Hikaru ran ahead, all bounce and cheer as he shouted,

"There's our car!"

There was a luxurious silver limousine parked at the very front of the station. The classic had been manufactured during the late 1920's. And their driver wore a chauffeur's uniform to match.

Sai hid his face from the many people who were staring. But Hikaru ran straight for the limousine, pulling his bright yellow rolling suitcase behind him.

"Hello, driver-san!" Hikaru greeted the man with a little hop.

"Good afternoon, Hikaru-sama. I hope that your trip was a pleasant one." The driver greeted, seamlessly taking Hikaru's luggage from him.

Sai boggled at the entire exchange.

"Hmm…" Hikaru hummed, pressing his index finger to his chin in thought. "It was nice."

"Very good, Hikaru-sama." Their driver nodded.

Then the chauffeur turned to Sai.

"Sai-sama." He bowed formally.

"Oh! Um…" Sai swiftly crossed the short distance left. "Hello."

He was left flustered and uncomfortable, always awkward around servants of the house.

"Please make yourselves comfortable." The driver opened the door to the car. "Your grandmother eagerly awaits your return, Sai-sama."

"G-Gr-Grandmother?" Sai exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Yes, Sai-sama." The driver responded, before firmly removing Sai's suitcase from his possession.

Sai stared dumbly down at his own suitcase, which looked completely foreign to him being held by the gloved hand of the chauffeur.

When their driver opened up the door of the car for them, Hikaru eagerly dove in, rolling briefly atop the rich leather of the interior before peeking back out to address Sai.

"Get in the car, Sai! Your honored grandmother awaits your presence!"

"Ri-Right!" Sai stammered.

He mentally shook himself out of his shock at being met at the station by a family car, hurrying to join Hikaru. He had been expecting a taxi ride, like the many he and Hikaru took in Tokyo.

As their luggage was being packed into the trunk, Sai sat stiffly in his seat and glanced over at Hikaru, who was humming and kicking his feet idly through the air.

"How did he know who you were?" Sai whispered to Hikaru, not wanting to be heard.

Hikaru glanced over at him, a bright gleam of amusement in his gaze.

"Everyone knows who I am, Sai."

Sai remained perfectly disturbed as the driver seated himself behind the steering wheel, announcing that they would be continuing the journey back to the clan compound now.

Along the way, Hikaru swung his feet in rhythm to the ancient Heian song he hummed to himself.

* * *

While Tokyo was considered the modern center of Japan, the true capital of Japan was Kyoto.

Kyoto was an ancient city, layered with over a thousand years of history. The city had stood through the rules of many emperors, changes in regimes, times of peace and war, and even the vast and sweeping era of modernization. And this city remained steadily, tranquilly, and serenely unmoved by the outside world.

As they drove up to the high, hundreds-of-years-standing gates of the Fujiwara ancestral estate, Sai was reminded of exactly how unchanged things remained.

Swallowing nervously, he pulled his shaking hands back into his lap and kept them there.

The outer gates opened and the car slowly navigated the short drive up to the Receiving Hall. It was only one of many inter-connected buildings, all surrounded by gardens of splendor. The dark tiled roofs gleamed under the sunlight, protected by the many ceramic guardians both hidden and in plain view. And though Sai knew it was all in his mind, the buildings all seemed to glare imposingly upon any visitor to step before them.

Sai looked up, past gold-gilded pillars of dark wood and the enormous painted doors. A row of fanged lions stared out from the end tiles of the roof. They are there to guard the house against evils. But as a child, Sai had been haunted by their all-seeing eyes and the threatening fangs which promised to punish all wrong-doers.

Two maids, both dressed in traditional kimono displaying the Fujiwara Clan familial crest, greeted them at the end of the steps. As Sai and Hikaru had exited the car, they both bowed in perfect unison.

"Sai-sama. Hikaru-sama. Allow the unworthy us to welcome your returns to this revered house."

Sai just stared, his default reaction to the overly-formal mannerisms of the house servants.

"Hello, maid-nee-chans!" Hikaru waved to them cheerfully. "Sai and I are finally back from Tokyo. Are you surprised?"

"Of course, Hikaru-sama." One of the maids replied with just the slightest hint of a smile.

"The house is quieter without you, Hikaru-sama." The other maid, a bit younger than the first, smiled openly.

Sai had never seen any of the servants _smile_ before.

"Suzume-nee-chan!" Hikaru whined, leaping to hang upon the arm of the older senior servant. "Fumiko-nee-chan is teasing me!"

Suzume huffed fondly, ignoring as Fumiko grinned mischievously at Hikaru.

"Shall you rest in your room first, Hikaru-sama?" Suzume asked instead.

Hikaru immediately leapt off her, resuming a semi-decent standing position as he waved his hand casually through the air.

"No, no, we're being waited for." Hikaru told them. "We'll head straight to see Sae-chan."

Sai choked.

Hikaru clapped him hard in the back, causing Sai to cough violently.

And the concerned expression of the two maids turned to one of amusement at Hikaru's wide grin.

"The head of the family can't be kept waiting, after all!" Hikaru announced breezily, pushing Sai up the steps and towards the inner chambers.

"Your luggage shall be well taken care of, Sai-sama, Hikaru-sama."

"We're all happy to have you back."

Sai was led blindly down the resplendent corridors and halls, unable to pay attention to a thing. He hadn't even noticed when he had taken off his shoes.

"Wait." Sai dug his heels into the ground, stopping Hikaru from pushing him any further.

Hikaru looked mildly annoyed, watching Sai with a raised brow.

"When you said that everyone knew you, you were serious?" Sai whispered frantically, glancing around the halls to make sure they weren't being overheard.

Not that he could ever tell. This house trained its servants well.

"Of course." Hikaru pouted at the delay, before proudly puffing up his chest and announcing, "I've been a part of Kyoto since it was Heian-kyo."

"HOW?" Sai demanded. "How is that possible?"

"Sai," Hikaru eyed him sternly, as if it should be obvious. "I'm a ghost."

Sai's mouth fell open.

"That's not what I meant!"

Hikaru sighed heavily, as if it were Sai who was being difficult. He rolled his eyes at Sai and then pushed him further along.

"How am I supposed to know what you mean about everything all of the time?" Hikaru asked. "But you're being very rude, Sai. Your grandmother is waiting for us!"

"Us?!"

Sai wasn't given any more time to process this before he was shoved into the narrow space between the inner rooms and the corridor. Hikaru flung a set of shoji doors open, never mind the precious artwork painted upon the thick paper.

"Sae-chan! I've come back from Tokyo with your precious grandson!" Hikaru announced happily, shouting into the entire room.

Sai stared, absolutely horrified, as Hikaru flounced into his grandmother's private room without even so much as a bow.

The spacious, airy receiving room was filled with sunlight, sweet-smelling tatami mats, and artful displays of ikebana.

Fujiwara Sae was a master of the Japanese art of flower arrangement. So much so that she had been named and honored by the Emperor as a Living National Treasure. All the pieces in the room had undoubtedly been arranged by her own treasured hand.

Fujiwara Sae was also the head of the Fujiwara Clan and Sai's grandmother, after whom he had been named.

Sai immediately sank down into the lowest of all formal bows to show his respect when his grandmother glanced over at him. He hoped he had hidden just how terrified he was, and how much his legs shook to be under her sharp-eyed stare.

"Honored Grandmother." Sai greeted her respectfully, just glad that he hadn't broken out into stutters.

"Please come into the room, Sai. There's no need to be so formal when we are alone in private."

Sai swallowed thickly. In his memory, he had never been alone with his grandmother at all.

Quietly, Sai shuffled forward and stopped at a respectable distance from where his Grandmother and Hikaru were seated.

Hikaru narrowed his gaze upon Sai, flopped atop an embroidered cushion in jeans and that ridiculous Hawaiian shirt decorated in traditional Japanese floral prints.

Sai focused on Hikaru's socks as he forced himself to take the remaining seat. There were tiny yellow chicks wearing white egg shells dancing across the socks.

Servants came into the room to set up the tea service then. And Sai was relieved that they wouldn't be performing a full tea ceremony, as they often did when he visited his grandmother.

Instead, he watched as his grandmother elegantly poured a stream of amber-colored tea into a teacup that was also possibly a National Treasure, or at least made by one.

There was also a bamboo box covered by a white towel atop the tray. Sai looked at it in confusion, wondering if they would be having a special tea where a flower would bloom inside or something.

However, when his grandmother uncovered the box, she revealed that the mysterious box had been filled with ice just to keep a bright red can of Coca-Cola and the bright yellow bottle of CC Lemon cold.

"I get to have both?" Hikaru exclaimed in excitement, sitting up to stare into the box.

Fujiwara Sae smiled indulgently.

"We have not been reunited in quite some time." She said as a way of explanation.

Sai just stared at the both of them, at a complete loss as to what was happening.

"Sae-chan is the best!" Hikaru shouted, throwing his arms up to express his love.

His grandmother—Sai's proud, intimidating, traditional grandmother—hid her laughter behind one long kimono sleeve.

CC Lemon and Coca-Cola were Hikaru's favorite drinks. Hikaru absolutely loved the extreme sourness/sweetness of them. And Sai wondered what alternate universe he had landed in for his grandmother to have known that too.

At his grandmother's invitation, Sai took a sip from his teacup. It was rich, warm, and tasted faintly of chrysanthemum.

Beside him, Hikaru cracked open his own drink, literally breaking something to interrupt the peaceful silence of the room.

Sai nearly spit out his tea. And when he glanced over at Hikaru's mischievous expression, his grandmother smiled faintly behind her teacup.

"It is good to see you, Sai." Sae said, her expression not the cold and formal visage from Sai's childhood memories.

Instead, his grandmother's expression looked warm and pleased. As if she were very happy to be able to see Sai again.

Sai thought that was very strange.

"And you as well, Grandmother." Sai responded automatically.

"You look to be in good health." Sae commented.

"I've been taking very good care of Sai!" Hikaru announced.

Sae turned to Hikaru with a fond expression.

"Of that, I have no doubt, Hikaru-kun."

Hikaru beamed.

Sae then placed her cup back onto the tray. And Sai hastily set his down as well upon seeing the serious expression upon his grandmother's face.

"The entirety of the Fujiwara clan will be wondering why I have summoned everyone to return." Sae stated. "Therefore, it becomes prudent for me to warn you beforehand, my grandson."

Sai blinked cluelessly back at his grandmother.

"It…is?" Sai questioned, before hastily adding, "Honored Grandmother."

If Sae were offended by Sai's clumsiness, she was too well-bred to even give hint of it. Instead, she explained,

"I have called everyone back to formally announce my successor."

Sai wasn't even drinking his tea. Yet, he still managed to choke upon hearing this news.

Hikaru, helpfully, clapped him hard in the back again.

"Wha-What?" Sai exclaimed, staring at his grandmother. "Y-You… You're… Your health, Grandmother…"

Sae cast Sai a sharp, narrow-eyed gaze. And Sai shut up immediately.

"I'm not dying, Sai." Sae assured him, none too gently.

Sai sat back timidly, face red with embarrassment.

"I do believe that I have some years left." Sae remarked.

Fujiwara Sae had aged remarkably well. Her hair had long turned gray, and wrinkles clung to the corners of her eyes and mouth. But she could still sit straight and proud. And her eyesight was still as sharp and observant as a hawk.

Sai had been told many, many times that he resembled his grandmother. And while other boys might have taken offence to being told that they took after a female member of their family, Sai had always shivered with terror at the thought. Because his grandmother had been the most intimidating, terrifying, and immoveable presence in his life.

"Sae-chan will live to be over a hundred." Hikaru smiled sunnily in her direction.

Sae smiled back with open amusement.

"If it is Hikaru who says so, then it must be truth."

Sai picked up his tea again, wondering when Hikaru and his grandmother had begun to be on first-name basis with each other.

"In such a case, I have many years left to live." Sae returned her gaze to Sai, who instinctively straightened his posture. "However, it is still the time to decree the next head of the Fujiwara clan."

Sai nodded idly, figuring that he could understand this logic. The next head of the family would have to learn of the clan head duties and such, after all. And that would be best done in advance, and directly from the current head of the family. A peaceful and unhurried transition was best.

"The next leader of the Fujiwara will be you, Sai."

The teacup dropped from out of Sai's grasp. His hands had completely lost any strength.

And as she watched his reaction, even his grandmother had to look upon him in concern.

"Me?" He squeaked, as pale as a ghost.

Strangely, Sae turned to Hikaru for answers.

Hikaru's expression was completely guarded and closed off. He only looked back at Sae, still and silent.

And somehow, that was communication enough between them for Sae to understand the situation.

Sae turned back to Sai, expression softening to gentleness.

"Recall the tale of how Fujiwara clan heads are chosen, my grandson." She prompted him gently, delicately aware of Sai's state of shock.

Sai's sluggish brain tried to remember. It was a children's tale, but one told to every Fujiwara child amongst the many tales of their clan.

"The ghost of Fujiwara no Hii appears before the chosen successor," Sai finally answered, his voice stiff and mechanic. "To advise the next clan head, so that they may both guide the Fujiwara towards greatness."

Sae gave him a meaningful look.

And then glanced over at Hikaru.

Sai's eyes widened in slow realization.

"I'm Hikaru…"

Hikaru smiled up at Sai, eyes bright and filled with an inner benevolence that shone like the sun.

"And my name is Fujiwara no Hii."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be absolutely clear, I am making EVERYTHING up about the Fujiwara clan in this story. This is a work of fiction and is in no way associated with the true and actual Fujiwara clan. But, it would be pretty cool if this was the way they did things.  
> 2017.02.17


	13. Sai's Mother

No one spoke.

Sai didn't have the capacity to after the revelation. He didn't want to. Because he didn't know what to say.

And this was understood. Neither Hikaru nor his grandmother forced him to talk. They only continued to sit there, waiting.

Sai stared down at his hands. They had clenched into tight fists at some point. And he forced those hands to loosen, unclenching one stiff finger at a time.

His nails had cut sharp indents into his skin. Sai ignored it, smoothing his palms against the fabric of his slacks. He wondered idly why he had decided to wear these pants today. It had seemed like such a mundane decision that morning. Now, Sai feels as if he should have somehow known to appear more…formal.

Hikaru didn't like these pants. He said that they were too plain, too boring to bother wearing, always with an effusive wave of his hand. Hikaru had suggested that Sai dress "properly" in Heian robes, ignoring the fact that Sai did not have any such clothing.

Slowly, Sai glanced over at the Heian ghost at his side.

Hikaru didn't look at all like he was a child of the Heian. But then again, Fujiwara no Hii hadn't even been a child when he had died. Had he?

Sai blinked, realizing that he didn't actually know this. He had always just assumed his honored ancestor was an adult. But the scrolls of their history never mentioned Fujiwara no Hii's age.

Hikaru glanced back at Sai with a knowing gaze. And Sai startled, flinching as he was caught staring.

Yet, the tension was swept away with just the upward curve of Hikaru's eyebrow. And Sai relaxed at the appearance of that quick grin he knew so well, the one that assured him that everything would be alright.

Without needing Sai to respond, Hikaru turned his head back towards Sae. She watched the exchange with sharp, observant eyes the exact shade of Sai's, making no comment.

Sai observed as Hikaru and Sae communicated through the minute changes of their expression. The lightest twitching of a brow. The smooth upward curve of a smile. The slight crease near their eyes.

Fujiwara no Hii had appeared before his grandmother to make her the successor of their noble clan. That was tradition. And Sai was aware of the faint connection in his mind between himself and Hikaru. Did Hikaru also share one with his grandmother? Were they speaking to one another right now through their thoughts?

The painted shoji doors slid open with a soft sigh, permitting the entrance of a servant of the house.

This person was a woman Sai knew well, even if only by sight. And though her hair had long become snowy white, her face appearing more and more wrinkled with each visit, his grandmother's personal maidservant kneeled demurely beside the doorway with no less grace than he remembered from his childhood.

"Sae-sama, Sakae-sama has arrived."

Remaining seated at the front of the room, amongst the backdrop of a painted forest, Sai's regal grandmother nodded her ascent.

"Please show my daughter in, Umika."

There was a deep nod before tabi-socked feet shuffled over the tatami, the careful folds of kimono skillfully swept aside so as to not get in the way.

Unobtrusively, the door was slid open again, much further this time to indicate the importance of the visitor.

The opening doors revealed Fujiwara Sakae seated in seiza on the other side.

Her piercing, unmoving gaze looked into the room with no indication that she held any personal attachment to the members inside. Her spine was straight, her form perfect. It did not matter that she was not wearing kimono, but was instead dressed in perfectly-pressed slacks and a stiff button-up shirt. She belonged to this house, to this clan, with an ease and authority Sai had never possessed.

Umika bowed and departed without a word, getting to her feet only to take the one step necessary to cross the threshold. She rested on her knees once again, as was proper, and quietly slid the paper door shut without a word.

Suddenly, the room was too large and too quiet.

Sai glanced nervously at the assembled party. His grandmother remained seated at the front of the room. Hikaru, unnaturally still and silent beside him.

And dropping elegantly onto the tatami across from him…was his mother.

From grandmother to daughter to grandson, the Fujiwara familial resemblance was clear. Their eyes were the same startling amethyst, their build slender, their features noble. And Sae's hair may have turned gray, but it had once been the exact same shade as her daughter and grandson's.

Sai dropped his gaze back onto his lap before he had looked further than her shoulders.

Without a word being exchanged, Sae served her daughter tea. No one else moved in the long moments of this expression of welcome.

"My gratitude, Mother." Sakae accepted the cup with practiced hands, her voice like the wind between trees.

Sakae set the teacup down with exact care, mindful of how the design should be displayed to the room.

She betrayed none of her personal feelings on this meeting, if she had any on the matter. Sakae only watched the others within the room with total neutrality.

Sai's throat felt very dry.

"H-Hello, Mother."

His eyes darted from her hands folded in her lap to a spot right beside her earlobe.

"It's…" Sai inhaled slowly, trying to gather his frayed nerves. "I'm glad to see you in good health."

Sakae watched him with her unfaltering gaze, studying him carefully without any change in her expression.

"My son." She acknowledged him with a nod.

Sai exhaled slowly. Really, it was more that the breath was gone from his body.

He was her son, but he had never known how to act around his mother. Fujiwara Sakae had never been warm and caring, full of smiles and encouraging words, like the mothers he had observed in his boyhood. She had never swept his hair from his eyes, had never adjusted his clothing, had never done any of the many hundreds of small things mothers did for their children.

His mother was…very much like his grandmother. Poised, elegant, graceful, intimidating, commanding, and untouchable.

Sai couldn't remember instances in which his mother had touched him. He had been cared for by servants growing up, who attended to his every need with polite distance. In the times he had been in the same room as his mother, Sai had remained at her side and no more. He could count on his hand the number of times they had been close enough for him to smell her perfume or be aware of the heat that indicated his mother's presence.

He stared down at his hands, clasped tightly in his lap.

Sakae turned her attention from her son to Hikaru. Hikaru merely watched her back, eyes bright and welcoming.

Inclining her head just so in greeting, Sakae did not ask who Hikaru was. Likely, she already knew.

Instead, she turned her attention back to her mother.

Mother and daughter stared a long, silent look between them. And Sai glanced between them anxiously, afraid that he would be caught doing so.

Still, no one spoke. And Sai had to resist the urge to fidget, feeling once again like a small child.

Faintly, Sai could hear the soft opening and closing of paper doors. The wordless whispers of faraway servants. The creaking of floorboards. The silent attention of the half dozen servants waiting outside these doors.

Sai himself had no personal servants. But his grandmother was still attended to by a personal maidservant who had been with her since girlhood. And his mother, a bit more modern, had both a secretary and a personal assistant to help with her affairs.

He knew the exact places these people were sitting outside the room. Umika, waiting for a summons, poised in the entranceway between this room and the corridor. His mother's people seated closest outside the door, side-by-side in the hallway. And the miscellaneous others positioned a bit farther away, taking their orders from the senior attending staff.

Being back in this city, in this house, felt like walking back into the past. Since he had left, Sai's fealty extended as far as the once yearly visit he paid to the Head of the Fujiwara Clan. He spoke with his grandmother during this visit only to wish her a new year. And rarely had he ever managed to even make eye contact with her as he did so.

As for his mother, Sai hadn't come in direct contact with her for the last five years. He routinely gave her a monthly update of his life, but usually spoke through her secretary or assistant. She had never asked him to do so, but Sai continued out of habit and the unexplained sense that he should.

It was Sae who broke the silence, no inflection in her voice to indicate approval or disapproval as she announced,

"As per custom, your parents have been called so they may receive forewarning before the announcement."

Sai nodded, aware of the process. Every Fujiwara had been taught the ways of their family. And as the successor, it was only proper that his immediate family be informed of his ascension outside of the general announcement.

His mother was here. If it was a matter of the Fujiwara, his mother would always be here.

And though he knew better (should know better, and yet…), Sai still glanced hopefully towards the shoji doors and expected a second figure to appear.

There was a beat of complete silence. The doors did not open. And Umika did not announce the arrival of another person.

"Your father expresses his apologies, but he will not be in attendance." Sakae informed everyone present with flowing, efficient order. "I will inform him of what is discussed here, so he may be aware regardless of his absence."

Sai returned his gaze to his lap.

It had been foolish for him to expect his father to come here anyway. His father hadn't stepped foot on Fujiwara Clan land since he had separated himself from this House.

"Father…" Sai asked anyway, looking up at his mother. "How is… What did…"

Sakae looked at her son. And though her expression did not change, her voice was just a little bit softer as she told him,

"His youngest daughter's recital is tonight. And he cannot attend the event if he is absent from his work today."

Sai clenched his hands, only to force them to unclench again.

His memories of his father were faint. Sai remembered a deep voice, a heavy hand on his shoulder, a smile that was slow and comforting and one he had always tried so very, very hard to keep on his father's face.

He tried to remember the good things about his father. He tried not to remember the icy silences and accusing glares at his mother. He tried not to remember the unhappiness of a man who had married into his wife's family without realizing how deep the roots of their obligation. That his mother was Fujiwara first and foremost, even before she was wife to her husband.

"Oh." He whispered.

Sai hadn't yet been five when his father had left. Too young and hurt and breaking because his father was leaving him behind.

That day, his father had promised to come back for him. He had promised Sai that he would come back to take him away, and they could be together again.

As he had grown older, Sai had come to understand all the reasons and ways and impossibilities of his father ever doing that. It came down to the fact that Sai had been born a Fujiwara, to this House, to this clan. His family held too much power and influence. And Sai needed his clan's protection and support simply because he was one of them.

His father had known that he would never come back. He had abandoned his son in order to have a "normal" life. And maybe his father had made the promise he did to give Sai comfort. But it had been crueler to have been given a promise that had never been meant to be kept.

Sai had not been invited to his father's wedding. He had never met his half-siblings. He had only ever been informed that they existed, and that had been done through his mother out of courtesy. Because there were certain things that had to be done, even after someone who had married into the clan leaves.

His father did not want to have anything to do with the Fujiwara Clan, including his son. Sai was not even sure his father's new family knew of his existence.

"Sai shall be the next Head of the Fujiwara." Sae announced to her daughter, breaking Sai out of his spiraling thoughts.

Sakae nodded deeply in understanding. She had already reached such a conclusion, given the way this visit had been arranged.

Then she looked away from her mother, glancing over at Hikaru in a half second of open curiosity, before finally looking directly upon Sai.

"I am proud to be the mother of such a son."

Sai stared across at Sakae, eyes wide.

His mother's eyes watched him silently, exactly like his own. And familiar.

"As am I." Sae returned the gesture, nearly identical to her daughter's.

His grandmother and his mother were the most immoveable forces in Sai's life. They had always sat tall, their presence and authority unquestioned, nobility personified. And they had never been so direct in expressing their feelings to Sai.

"I am proud to be the mother to such a daughter." Sae announced. "And am gratified as the grandmother to my grandson."

Sai blinked rapidly, the image of his mother and grandmother blurring.

"I-I am h-honored by your praise."

It's hard holding himself together. His hands won't stop shaking, no matter how hard Sai clutched at them. He feels as if he's fallen apart, only to be remade by vast realizations he should have already known.

As a child, Sai had reported to his mother's rooms every evening. He would carefully narrate his day with a speech he prepared far in advance, detailing his progress and failings. It was a habit he kept, despite the anxiety that churned in his stomach each time.

He had always been afraid that he was somehow disappointing her. That he wasn't meeting her expectations. That he wasn't worthy enough to be her son.

But those evenings he spent with his mother, even as a rambling child, she had never once interrupted him. She only listened with her full attention, advising him only after he had finished. And she is waiting for him every day. His mother had been there for him every day.

And he remembered being gifted with an antique goban, the same priceless heirloom he had spent countless hours admiring from the other side of a glass case.

He is reminded of the fact that his grandmother never failed to congratulate him after he won a tournament. She always stopped her entire entourage when passing him in the halls, just to offer her short congratulations.

He recalled his extreme nervousness the day he had asked to go to Tokyo, sure that his request will be denied. But his grandmother only studied him with a scrutinizing gaze, and surprised him with her assent.

It is affection that is quiet and sometimes silent and perhaps distant. Care that has been woven from formality and tradition, difficult to understand in its subtlety.

But he has always been his mother's son, his grandmother's grandson.

Sai looked up and over at Hikaru, who had remained silent and unmoving throughout this entire ordeal. And he knows that Hikaru is aware of what he is feeling, through the bond that links them together.

Hikaru is already looking back at him, smiling, bright and warm like the sun.

Sai offers a watery smile back, basking in the warmth of Hikaru's regard.

This is his family who loves him. In their own ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally intended for Sai’s family to be, like, mean and bad. But I really can’t write that way.  
> 2017.03.20 Happy First Day of Spring!


	14. Sai the General

Deep within the recesses of the Fujiwara clan compound, tucked within the innermost buildings that stood as the oldest and most meaningful of the estate, there was a museum of sorts.

The Hall of Remembrance displayed the Fujiwara's most prominent history. In a windowless building with little more than polished wooden stands and stiff tatami mats, the relics of their past stood under dim spotlights within an environment controlled in both temperature and humidity.

As a child, Sai had spent many late afternoons in the Hall of Remembrance. The hall was quiet and dim, with hardly any visitors. It had been the perfect place for a young, sensitive child to hide away.

And once, this had been where the goban of Honinbo Shusaku had been kept. The same goban which had been given to Sai's possession. The goban which held Hikaru's spirit.

"It never quite feels like I'm home until I'm here."

Sai turned away from his mindless staring to see Hikaru grinning over his shoulder.

Facing ahead once again, Hikaru gestured towards the silk scroll they were standing before. The painting had been meticulously restored a few decades ago, having faded with age. It was one of the largest paintings of the family collection. And it was, perhaps, the one which depicted the height of their power.

The Heian era had been influenced by the Fujiwara clan as much as any family could influence the political structure of an entire country. They had remained regents and advisors to emperors even after their decline, into the modern day.

In the painting, the Fujiwara clan was holding an assembly. Long lines of clan members were eating, drinking, discussing, debating, even leaving in outrage. Noblewomen were depicted in twelve-layered kimono and floor-length dark hair. The noblemen were dressed in extravagant formal robes which belayed their occupation and status just as well as any official uniform.

And at the very top of the painting, the child that would be emperor shone with the light of the heavens. The empress, a Fujiwara, sat serenely beside her five-year-old son. And on the other side, the emperor's maternal grandfather was guiding his grandson to regard their clan well.

"You know," Hikaru remarked, studying the painting. "It hadn't really felt like a remarkable day. Not in a depicted-for-the-ages way."

Sai's eyes swept the painting for the figure of Fujiwara no Hii. He would be found seated at the center of the painting. There, despite having been allocated a seat amongst his branch of the clan, which remained pointedly vacant.

Fujiwara no Hii had been an accomplished scholar and poet, a genius strategist and tactician, and a trusted advisor of the Emperor's court during his lifetime. Handsome, intelligent, charismatic, and brave, Fujiwara no Hii had been admired by all.

"I…"

Theoretically, Sai had always been aware that this painting was a picture of an actual day with actual people in an actual place. But, to Sai, it had always just been a painting. It was jarring to realize that this was a memory for Hikaru, akin to a photograph.

"…can't imagine." Sai said honestly.

Hikaru merely grinned at him again, leaving his consideration of his past to turn fully and face Sai.

Standing before the backdrop of the ancient silk painting, illuminated by a spotlight, Sai searched for the resemblance.

This version was called Hikaru, a twelve-year-old boy with strange bi-colored hair and an questionable fashion sense.

The ink figure of Fujiwara no Hii was depicted as an older man in formal robes, though he couldn't have been older than Sai was now.

The two versions didn't look remotely alike. The similarity was, instead, a similarity of feeling.

Fujiwara no Hii was at the center of the painting because he could never be relegated to the sidelines. Greater even than the vaulted marks of his character written in history, he had been a man who had believed his greatest accomplishment to have been his loyalty to, and genuine love for, his family.

And then, as if to shatter all the respect Sai had for his revered ancestor,

"You know, I was a girl when I appeared before Sae-chan."

Hikaru snickered into his palm.

"I called myself Hiara-chan. And Sae-chan considered me her best friend as she was growing up. Sae-chan was so angry when I revealed who I was that she slapped me."

Sai was scandalized, staring at Hikaru with open-mouthed shock.

When Hikaru only continued to giggle, he frowned, once again questioning his association with Hikaru.

"It was rightfully deserved." He informed Hikaru primly.

Hikaru laughed, openly and freely, the bright sound echoing through the lingering silence.

And this was as it should be. Hikaru didn't want Sai to treat him with reverence and blindly agree to his guidance. It was another reason for his changes in appearance when meeting the one he chose to be successor. Why it was so important he form a close relationship with those he chose before Hikaru revealed who he was.

Sai looked back at the painting, and then back at Hikaru.

He hesitated, hands opening and closing in aborted movements. But he dared to ask the question he hadn't allowed himself to ask until now.

"Why me?"

Hikaru watched him with a look of serious contemplation, very carefully gathering the right words to answer such an enormous question.

"Because you doubt."

Of all the answers Sai had been expecting to receive—ranging from his adherence to tradition to even that this had all been a mistake and Hikaru didn't truly think Sai was worthy after all—he had not considered this one.

Hikaru turned to look behind them, at the many other pieces housed within the Hall of Remembrance. Not so much with his eyes, but with the knowledge that they were there.

"You regard the Fujiwara, not as a power or a tool or a name, but as a people, as a family."

Hikaru clasped his hands behind his back, tall and elegant and noble in a way only those born and raised in long-gone aristocracy could convey.

"And we are not infallible." Hikaru intoned, head bowed and brows furrowed. "Despite our privilege and education, the Fujiwara remain just as flawed as we have always been."

Sai's eyes widened.

"But I'm the worst choice!"

Hikaru looked at him in surprise at his outburst.

"I-I'm not a leader!" Sai protested. "I can't unite everyone or change anyone's minds or be someone they can admire. I— I didn't even _like_ this house when I was a child. And I wasn't… I'm not… _I almost_ —"

Sai bit down on his lip. Hard.

He turned away from Hikaru in shame.

"You almost killed yourself." Hikaru stated quietly.

They were alone in this room, in this whole building. But Sai felt on edge, as if someone would overhear, as if this shameful secret was a wound opened raw again.

It was just a statement of fact. There was no judgement or anger in Hikaru's words.

"You wanted to kill yourself."

They had never spoken of it. Hikaru had appeared and stopped Sai, wailing and shouting and flying around Sai's apartment, forbidding it to ever happen. No discussion, just orders. Sai became the horse, and Hikaru the general.

Sai's throat felt incredibly dry as he swallowed, unable to meet Hikaru's eyes.

"I wouldn't." Sai whispered to him. "Not anymore."

Even before today and this moment, Sai had wanted Hikaru to know that.

It was important that Hikaru know that.

"I know." Hikaru told him, understanding. "I know, Sai."

Sai released a long-held breath, his sigh of relief so soft that it was almost lost to the near-silent rush of air from the hidden vents and the quiet creak of the wood somewhere beyond them.

Even at this lowest point, Hikaru had believed in Sai. Though Hikaru had perhaps been…forceful in improving Sai's life, he had never doubted that Sai could change. And always for the better.

How could Sai ever repay the great debt he owed?

"Perhaps you would have, if we had been in the Heian." Hikaru broke the silence, voice soft as his eyes gazed into some unseeable past. "Perhaps you would have taken off your shoes and walked into the depths of the Kamo-gawa. And perhaps in destroying yourself, you would have been bound to your regrets and have become a ghost as well."

Sai wavered, easily able to imagine what Hikaru described. And it was because Sai could almost see it that the force of those regrets hit him unexpectedly.

His regret in no longer playing go. His shame in causing disgrace for his family. The heavy knowledge that even his suicide would not be able to wash away his pain.

Helpless to stop it, Sai stared at Hikaru and felt the intensity of his own thoughts and emotions wash over him.

Sai knew with certainty that he wouldn't have been bound to the Fujiwara, but would he have existed for as long as Hikaru had? Would his spirit have been bound to a goban? Would, in some destined twist of fate, it have been Sai appearing before a living, modern-day Hikaru instead?

Hikaru shook himself out of his thoughts, offering a small smile in apology.

"We've digressed." Hikaru said. "This is not what I meant to tell you."

Sai swallowed, nodding mindlessly, listening.

Hikaru regarded him for a moment, watching him. And when he spoke again, it was with careful words and even more careful feeling.

"My spirit may remain for different reasons, but I am still a ghost, Sai. I understand the depths of despair. I have watched, and have failed others. I watched over you, and became too afraid that I would fail you as well."

Briefly, Sai wondered about the ones Hikaru had failed. But he was even more thrown by the confession that Hikaru had been anything less than overly-confident. How could Fujiwara no Hii have been anything less?

"Yet, I realized that I had already failed you. That night we met…"

Hikaru's eyes shifted away, the only evidence of his discomfort, unfocused and looking through Sai despite facing him directly. And unhidden by long sleeves or Heian robes, Hikaru's hand clenched into a fist at his side.

"There was nothing I would not have done to save you." Hikaru told him fiercely. "I would have stopped at nothing after finally hearing your silent pleas for help."

Hikaru's indominable gaze held Sai's own, smooth and hard like pieces of precious jade.

"And there will be no shame in asking for help, Sai. Do not allow yourself to continue to suffer. You are not alone; I am here. And should you falter, know that I will remain at your side. That is my promise to you."

Sai resisted the urge to turn away, to look away from Hikaru's expression. He was shaking, unable to stop the minute trembling that would break him apart.

When he spoke, it was with a voice that could rise no louder than a whisper.

"Why did you take so long?" Sai asked him helplessly.

Hikaru's expression was quiet and sad. It was something born of regret at his own failure to Sai. Something that regret could not change.

"I'm sorry, Sai."

Sai pressed his mouth into a thin line and turned away, unable to meet Hikaru's eyes any longer.

"I am not infallible." Hikaru whispered.

There was a pain just beyond Sai's heart, somewhere empty and hollow and dark. It hurt to be reminded of it. It was the place that could never be completely filled.

He remembered a lonely childhood in a lonely house. He remembered all of the times he had run away to hide in the quiet places even quieter than he was. Times when he had sat very still and hoped that if he did not move, that he would disappear and never return.

Sai remembered, but knew that it was less painful, less empty now. There was a space reserved for his first student, Mitani Yuuki. There was a corner for Ogata Seiji, now his friend. There had been room already set aside for the Touya family, settling there once he had finally allowed them in. With each person that had been added to his life, that empty place had been filled just a little bit more.

And, he could admit now, there were spaces that were older and darker and somehow more painful because they were not empty. The spaces he had hidden away behind locks with no keys to keep them there, having lost the hope that they wanted to be there. A hollowness he carried by choice, because those were the spaces reserved for his family.

And it had been Hikaru who had filled the most space. It was Hikaru who had brought the most light to the dark and empty place. Hikaru, who had somehow always been there and will always remain.

But Sai had needed Hikaru to be there sooner.

They stood there silently, not knowing what to say. And Sai thought perhaps there was nothing more that could be said.

"I still don't understand why you chose me." Sai confessed, eyes sliding back to the painting hanging at the front of the room.

Hikaru nodded and allowed them to move onto the new topic of conversation. He folded his hands precisely before him, as if he were wearing long robes instead of a modern short-sleeved shirt. And he had not quite been forgiven, but neither would he be blamed.

"The Head of the Fujiwara needs to be someone who will care about them." Hikaru answered him after a moment. "Someone who's aware of our flaws and weaknesses, but will love them more than they deserve."

Sai stared at Hikaru in disbelief.

"You chose me…because I'm nice?"

"I chose you because you're forgiving." Hikaru told him, the ghost of a smile passing his expression.

Sai could only blink back at Hikaru, completely baffled still.

"Why couldn't you lead the Fujiwara?" Sai asked the question he had always wanted to ask, which had floated in the back of his mind since he had been a boy and known of his revered ancestor known as Fujiwara no Hii.

Hikaru clasped his hands behind his back and looked back up at the painting. He seemed so far removed then, a figure from another age.

"Because I am not so forgiving."

Sai glanced at where Hikaru look. He couldn't imagine the scene in the painting. He couldn't imagine the soft rustles of ancient robes, or the smell of the food, or the sounds of the voices that would have carried through the clan compound. For all they were his family, his ancestors, Sai had not known them. He hadn't lived during that time, through these events.

And for all the peace that the Heian period had been famous for, it had not been without danger and battles of a different sort. Fujiwara no Hii had defended the Fujiwara with single-minded intensity. But the cost would have been every other clan, everyone else to be regarded as 'other'. It would have made the others his enemies, and Fujiwara no Hii their enemy.

And after the Heian? When Japan had not been as peaceful? Sai had seen glimpses of those centuries in Hikaru's go, in Hikaru's staunch viewpoint of the goban as a battlefield. As an opponent, Hikaru was a fierce and deeply contemplative enemy. He was dangerously aggressive when he needed to be, unmovable in his defense when he needed to be, and ruthless when he needed to be.

In those games, Hikaru had shown Sai that he was whatever he needed to be. In times of war, an experienced general. In times of peace, a seemingly-harmless aristocrat.

Sai watched him. And, yes, Sai understood why Fujiwara no Hii could not lead the Fujiwara now. A man who did what needed to be done could not be truly forgiving. Especially not when the one who needed forgiveness was one of his own.

If it had ever been the Fujiwara to wrong him, Hikaru would have only seen it as the ultimate betrayal. And Fujiwara no Hii would have burned the Fujiwara to the ground and destroyed them all before he would have ever forgiven them.

"You need me to fill in your empty places." Sai realized.

Hikaru's eyes brightened in delighted surprise, his mouth curved into an almost-smile.

"We need each other to fill in our empty spaces." Hikaru stated. And Sai could not be sure if Hikaru were only talking about the two of them, or if he spoke of everyone.

Sai shifted, hands clasped behind his back.

He was still unsure of his suitability to be the successor of the Fujiwara. But his trust in Hikaru was not a blind one. Hikaru had earned it, through his actions and his loyalty to Sai.

And if it were Hikaru's judgement that Sai could be the head of the Fujiwara, then Sai would trust Hikaru's belief in him.

Sai would forgive—had forgiven—his family for being less. He had always forgiven, no matter the deep hurt inflicted. And if that were truly what the Fujiwara needed, then Sai could and would devote himself to them as the next Head.

"Does this mean…" Sai glanced at Hikaru uncertainly. "…that I'm the general now?"

Hikaru laughed, bright and giddy and nearly-startled by the question.

"Yes, Sai." Hikaru confirmed gleefully. "You are no longer the horse."

Sai frowned, pointing out,

"But what would that make you then?"

Hikaru grinned.

"An army can have more than one general."

At Hikaru's wink, Sai automatically responded with an exasperated huff of laughter. He shook his head, the action so easy and natural because it was so familiar.

Watching Hikaru smile at him then, Sai felt as if he had finally stepped out from the shadows to bask in the sunlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There's only one more chapter until the end of this story! (Plus an omake.)  
> 2017.04.30


	15. Sai the Fujiwara

"You seem tired, Sensei." Mitani frowned.

Sai offered his student a reassuring smile.

“Just a little, Mitani-kun. Nothing you have to worry about.”

“It’s that idiot who should be worried.” Mitani grumbled to himself under his breath. “What good is he if he can’t even take care of Sensei.”

Sai benevolently pretended not to have heard that.

Since his return to the city, Sai had been playing the rescheduled games that could not have been moved to Kyoto. It meant his schedule had been overfilled the last couple of weeks. And the recent changes to his personal life had only added to his exhaustion.

“Behold!” Hikaru announced happily, rushing into the dining room with a covered tray in hand. “A masterpiece by my own hand!”

The Touya family all burst into applause without even having seen it. Ogata stared and offered no reaction. And Hikaru beamed with resplendent pride, setting the tray upon the table and revealing what was under the white cloth with a flourish.

Bowls of golden noodles in gleaming broth, boiled bamboo shoots, two half eggs, slices of prime beef, and freshly cut green onion, with a pink and white swirled fish cake. And the entire party sighed softly as the delicious smell wafted into the air in curls of steam.

“Ramen!” Hikaru chirped, already setting each bowl before each of their guests. “The only meal for house warmings!”

“You’re so wrong.” Mitani commented as he accepted his bowl from Hikaru.

Hikaru only grinned back at him, no offense taken.

“Did you cook this yourself, Hikaru-kun?” Akiko asked warmly.

“Certainly, Touya-san.” Hikaru gestured over himself. “And you may rest assured in its quality. For I am a certified ramen chef.”

Mitani snorted.

“Who was the master that you studied under, Hikaru-kun?” Ogata asked, unfazed.

Mitani looked at Ogata incredulously, not at all believing that Hikaru had actually studied under a ramen master.

Ogata only took a sip from the delicate porcelain of his sake cup. It was his housewarming gift to them. And though Hikaru had supplied excellent stoneware for the excellent wine, only Ogata and Kouyou were partaking.

“I’m sure it’s delicious,” Akiko giggled. “Since Hikaru-kun has cooked it especially for us.”

Hikaru preened under the attention as Mitani rolled his eyes.

“How do you like your new home, Fujiwara-sensei?” Akira asked politely, looking at Sai with earnest curiosity.

Briefly, Sai glanced around the formal dining room they were currently seated in.

Warm golden light flooded the long room from the handcrafted chandelier lights overhead. The colored glass was delicately shaped to look like hanging flowers, the bronze metalwork covered in wrought leaf designs.

But the room was formally traditional, as befitting a house of the Fujiwara clan. Tatami mats covered the floors, surrounded by painted walls. And the shoji screen doors had been opened and pushed aside, the outer panels of the hall had been removed for the night. All for the benefit of creating an inviting backdrop of the ornamental garden during their meal.

“This is a very lovely home.” Akiko complimented.

“Yes,” Sai replied absently. “I suppose so.”

“I had thought you would be more comfortable here.” Kouyou looked on in slight surprise. “You’ve mentioned before that you didn’t particularly like the design of your former home.”

To which Sai hastily replied,

“I am quite comfortable here. And it’s not as if I miss my apartment. It’s just…”

His new home was large and grand, located in a historic neighborhood of the city. And the clan house had come with a small staff. He was still unused to their presence, despite having grown up in a similar environment.

Of course, none of the servants were in sight at the moment. Hikaru had made it clear that he wanted to serve the meal himself. But even then, at least one would be within earshot, should anyone in the party unexpectedly call for assistance.

And Sai had always experienced discomfort in the idea that he was never alone. Even though being alone had been so terribly lonely.

“…a little more crowded now, I suppose.” Sai finished.

Without having to physically do it, they all nodded in understanding. It had been surprising for everyone to be greeted at the door by a servant of the house, dressed in the formal kimono stamped by the Fujiwara crest.

Everyone had known who Sai was. But to be reminded that he was a Fujiwara came at an entirely different scale.

“Well, I like our new house a lot better.” Hikaru spoke up. “The traditional style is the only true Japanese style.”

Akira nodded in staunch agreement. Having grown up in a traditional home as well, he preferred the familiarity.

“I’ve always preferred the modern, Western style myself.” Ogata chimed in.

“Well, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.” Hikaru said, even as he looked revolted.

Ogata nodded, moving to pour himself more sake. But after glancing at his sensei, moved to refill Kouyou’s cup before his own.

Kouyou nodded his thanks at his student, taking a sip to show his appreciation before glancing over at Sai.

“And are we here to offer more than one congratulations tonight, Fujiwara-sensei?”

Akira furrowed his brow. They were all here to congratulate Fujiwara-sensei and Hikaru on their new home, weren’t they? (And Akira was going to ask to see Hikaru’s room after dinner, so they could play more go. He had even learned a few new wrestling moves, just in case.)

“You mean we’re celebrating more than the new house?” Mitani asked, also mildly confused.

Both Ogata and Akiko said nothing as they continued to eat their ramen, also having no idea what Kouyou was talking about.

“Ahh…” Sai set down his utensils and wiped nervously at his hands. “There is an…announcement of sorts to make. I had planned to tell you all after dinner, but…”

Sai glanced over at their obviously-intrigued guests.

“As you’re already aware, Hikaru and I were in Kyoto for some time…”

Everyone nodded immediately.

Sai paused here uncertainly, and looked towards Hikaru.

But Hikaru only stared back at him expectantly, mouth full of ramen.

Sai mentally shook his head, causing Hikaru to grin around his mouthful of ramen through their mental link.

Straightening in his seat, Sai forced himself to keep still as the words came out in a rush,

“And you are all very important to me. People who have become as important to my life as my own family. That is why I wanted to tell you in person.”

Everyone stared back in surprise.

And his hands shook, hidden under the table. But Hikaru sent him a strong sense of pride, despite simply appearing as if he were searching for something in his food.

Before he could lose his nerve, Sai forged on through the silence.

“I have been named the successor. After the current head—my grandmother—finds it in her wisdom to pass all responsibility to me, I will be the one to lead the Fujiwara.”

Kouyou and Akiko turned to one another.

Ogata finished off his sake.

And Mitani and Akira just continued staring in their shock.

“Congratulations on the honor, Fujiwara-sensei.” Kouyou intoned solemnly.

Beside him, his wife smiled beatifically at Sai.

“How will this affect your career?” Ogata asked bluntly.

Sai suddenly found himself in a forceful staredown with the other go-pro.

“My new responsibilities will affect my professional life very little.” Sai shook his head adamantly.

This was something he and Hikaru had discussed in depth already, had been the first amongst many serious discussions concerning how his life would change.

“I do not expect to inherit the position for years, perhaps another decade or two, hopefully. It’s been agreed that I will accept my responsibilities gradually. And aside from more frequent trips back to Kyoto, it will be my personal life that will change the most rather than my professional one.”

Ogata ended his staredown with a nod of satisfaction. He was the top contender in the Judan series this year. And despite their friendship, Ogata was playing to win the title from a Sai in top form.

Sai breathed a mental sigh of relief.

“Is this why you have a new house?” Akira asked, wide-eyed.

“Partially.” Sai answered hesitantly. “There are certain expectations for the clan heir. But I would have moved into a similar home sooner or later, whether or not I was named the heir.”

Akira nodded in acceptance, glancing around the house with renewed interest. In his opinion, Fujiwara-sensei was more suited to this type of home.

“Wait.” Mitani held his hand up, thinking very hard.

Sai swallowed, bracing himself for the anticipated negative-reaction to the news.

But Mitani only pointed at Hikaru, seated across the table.

“Are you actually related to him?”

Sai stared blankly back at his student, nearly gaping.

“I just want to know. And this seemed as good of a time to ask.” Mitani shrugged nonchalantly. “Your old apartment had a guest room, but it never looked like anyone had ever stayed in there. And I never saw any of Hikaru’s stuff lying around.”

Sai was quick to stomp down his rising panic, projecting only calm. It was a mask he had learned to use, starting in childhood.

“I am a Fujiwara.”

Everyone turned to Hikaru.

Hikaru stared back at them in a watchful, steady manner. It was the same expression Sai had forced onto his face, but which was so natural on Hikaru.

“I am, just as much as Sai is Fujiwara.” Hikaru confirmed. “We’re clansmen. And he is my beloved family.”

And though his mask didn’t break, it faltered as Sai was struck by emotion he hadn’t expected hearing those words. He had to look away in order to maintain his composure.

Because, through the bond, Sai knew that Hikaru’s words were genuinely sincere.

Mitani narrowed his eyes at Hikaru. That still didn’t explain the lack of stuff.

In return, Hikaru grinned knowingly at Mitani, eyes bright and teasing as he propped his elbow onto the table.

“And ignoring the fact that you were spying on me…”

“Don’t flatter yourself. My only concern is whether you were bothering Sensei!”

“…I wanted to stay with Sai.” Hikaru told them. “I asked to come from Kyoto. I didn’t want Sai to be lonely anymore.”

Quietly, the words were allowed to settle. And the unsaid seriousness of that decision remained, despite how purposefully cheery and light-hearted Hikaru had kept his tone.

Kouyou and Akiko exchanged an entire silent conversation between them. In their expressions, they conveyed how grateful they were that Hikaru had shown up in Sai’s life.

Ogata raised his glass to the table, his thoughts kept to himself.

“As if you didn’t just barge in, giving no choice to Sensei whatsoever.” Mitani snapped, the only one at the table who had not known Sai before Hikaru.

Hikaru leaned back in his seat, grinning unrepentantly at Mitani.

“If you are ever lonely, Fujiwara-sensei, you should come to our house.” Akira offered with determination.

“Yes. As we’ve said before,” Akiko said warmly. “You and Hikaru-kun will always be welcome in our home.”

“And I’m sure Seiji would offer his company as well.” Kouyou added with amusement.

Ogata bobbed his head once in acknowledgement, before providing his own encouragement,

“All of the turtles like you.”

Hikaru hid his laugh behind the sleeve of the formal kimono he wasn’t wearing.

And Sai watched the people sitting at the table. The guests he had invited into his home for dinner, because they cared for him, and because he cherished their presence in his life.

A year ago, he would have sat alone at an empty table, in an empty apartment he hadn’t even felt he belonged in. And now…

“Thank you,” Sai told them quietly, seriously.

And when he smiled, it was a smile for these precious people in his life.

Hikaru was the first to smile back, happy and warm. His was bigger than the calm, caring smiles of the Touyas. More exuberant than the upward curves of Ogata and Mitani’s smiles. And Sai was happy, truly happy to have received them all.

“But I’m not lonely anymore.”

 

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing “Hikaru no Ghost”. (That title made me smile every time I said it.)
> 
> And I’m very happy to have written another story for the Hikaru no Go fandom. In my experience, the readers have been kind, supporting, and enthusiastic people who have given me ongoing love and encouragement. So, everyone is kind of like Hikaru lol.
> 
> But in all seriousness, I really would just like to thank you. THANK YOU for reading. And I hope you’ve enjoyed the story!
> 
> P.S. The omake chapter will be posted on the first of June!  
> 2017.05.28


	16. OMAKE!

**1.**

When Seiji had been a child, he had wanted a dog. A white dog. A white dog he would have named Shiro. (Or maybe a parakeet. One with bright eyes and blush cheeks.)

Unfortunately, his parents had not wanted a dog (or a parakeet). And so, Seiji had remained pet-less for most of his elementary school life.

Then, one day, Seiji had been minding his own business. It had just turned from summer to autumn, and his sweater was a little too big, the sleeves falling well past his hands. (But he had liked that sweater. It was white and had a blue stripe at the hem that matched his favorite pair of socks.)

While walking home from school, he had been passing a pile of leaves when he saw it.

Crouching down beside the fallen leaves, Seiji had placed his sweater sleeves against his bare knees and stayed quiet until it happened again.

A moment later, a brown and yellow turtle cautiously moved out from its shell.

Seiji adjusted his glasses accordingly.

The slow-moving turtle turned to look up at Seiji with a dark, immoveable stare.

Seiji looked back at it, and said,

“Hello, Turtle-san.”

The turtle bobbed its head just slightly, as if to nod.

Seiji tilted his blonde head curiously, wondering,

“Do you want to come home with me?”

Again, the turtle bobbed its head just slightly. This time, turning to look straight ahead again and taking a slow step forward.

Seiji blinked, and then, as was only polite,

“Thank you.”

Using his long sweater sleeves, Seiji had made sure to be extra careful as he had very gently and softly picked up the turtle.

Turtle-san had hidden in his shell the rest of the way home. And he had been called by the generic “Turtle-san” title until Seiji had joined Touya Kouyou’s study group.

Seiji had honored his new sensei by renaming his turtle after him.

 

* * *

 

**2.**

Seiji had not been there for Touya Akira’s birth. Though, he had visited the newborn at the hospital shortly after his birth.

Personally, one baby looked like every other baby to Seiji. And he hadn’t wanted to hold it. (Yet, there is a photograph of a teenage Seiji very stiffly holding a newborn Akira during that visit.)

It was around this time that Kouyou-turtle (formerly “Turtle-san”), had begun to grow lethargic and less active. And Seiji had been worried.

That is, until he had witnessed the rejuvenation of Kouyou-sensei after the birth of his son. That is what had ultimately inspired Seiji to begin his exhaustive search.

And it hadn’t been until the fifth pet store that he had found the perfect candidate.

Seiji stood in front of the glass display cases of turtles. The store employees were all fidgeting behind the counter. (This wasn’t Seiji’s usual store, so he had had to repeatedly assure them that he did not need their assistance. Three times.) And since it was the height of summer in a very humid Tokyo, Seiji was sure that his sweaty and exhausted image wasn’t making a very good first impression.

“Hello, turtle-sans.” Seiji greeted the group politely. “My name is Ogata Seiji, and I am visiting you on behalf of Kouyou-turtle.”

He held out the framed photograph for them to inspect.

“Would any of you like to become Kouyou-turtle’s companion? Kouyou-turtle is a very quiet, thoughtful individual. Well-travelled, from the time before he and I met. Perhaps he would be willing to exchange some stories of his wanderings with you.”

Seiji waited for a response.

Most of the time, their response was indifference. The best Seiji had gotten in the last four pet stores had been brief glances before the turtles had seemingly lost all interest.

But in this pet store, one turtle hesitantly approached the glass to stare at the framed photograph Seiji was presenting.

Seiji regarded the small green, light-green-striped, turtle curiously.

“Would you like to come home with me and meet him, Turtle-san?”

Even more hesitantly, the small turtle bobbed its head once, and then retreated into his small shell.

Seiji named the turtle in honor of Touya Akira.

 

* * *

**3.**

Seiji had arrived right away, bursting into the room, still in his coat.

Both occupants of the room turned to stare at him. One in alarm. The other, smiling and waving quite happily.

“Sai-sama, Hikaru-sama—” The panicked servant rushed up behind Seiji.

“Are they here?” Seiji didn’t bother with politeness, gaze trained upon the wooden crate on the table.

As Sai quietly assured the interrupted servant that it was fine, Seiji joined Hikaru in seiza at the table.

“We found them in our garden.” Hikaru explained, gesturing excitedly towards the crate. “We don’t know how long they were roaming around out there before we noticed. And we found the first one and put it in a box before the other came looking for it. It walked up right to the box!”

There were two turtles shifting around the loose hay at the bottom of the crate. They were hiding, most likely scared by their new environment.

Both had dark shells. One appeared purple in the light. The other’s shell was streaked with bright electric yellow.

“Thank you for coming so soon, Ogata-san.” Sai said with relief, before gesturing to the two turtles. “We weren’t sure what to do with them.”

“You did well enough.”

There had been a heat lamp set up. Seiji mentally nodded with approval.

“What do you think?” Sai nervously wrung his hands. “Do you think they can go home with you?”

Seiji looked directly at Sai and responded,

“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask.”

Sai blinked. And it was testament to how long they had been friends that he only nodded in agreement.

“Whenever you’re ready, Ogata-san.” Hikaru encouraged, leaning forward to look into the box one last time. “We’d let them stay in our garden, but they’d be cold with winter coming.”

Seiji hid his frown at the thought. He didn’t like the idea of the two turtles running wild in the winter cold. He would have to make a very good impression to convince them.

Clearing his throat, Seiji leaned forward and peered into the box. Then he waited very patiently until the turtles peered out of their shells enough to look at him.

Seiji gave them another moment to get used to his face, before he said very politely,

“Hello, I am Ogata Seiji.”

At the other sides of the table, Sai and Hikaru began to exchange a silent conversation.

“My home has two turtles who would very much welcome your company. Would you like to come live with us?” Seiji asked very solemnly.

The purple-shelled turtle slipped back into its shell.

The yellow-streaked turtle took a step forward towards Seiji, peering up at him with approval, before moving back towards his companion.

“Was…was that a yes?” Sai asked.

“I believe Turtle-san will convince Turtle-san to agree.” Seiji nodded hopefully.

Sai’s brows furrowed, before concluding,

“…Right.”

Seiji waited until the purple-shelled turtle peered out again, looking fleetingly at Seiji before retreating back into its shell.

“It’s settled then.” Seiji announced, sitting back.

Sai and Hikaru looked at one another.

“I believe we’ll go home directly.” Seiji told them with a nod. “It’ll be best to introduce everyone before dinnertime.”

“We don’t mean to rush you, Ogata-san.” Sai said.

“And we have tea!” Hikaru gestured grandly at the table.

Seiji glanced down at the prepared tea tray. It had been set up with his favorites. However, he had to consider the turtles.

“Thank you, but I’d prefer to return home.” Seiji replied neatly.

Hikaru sighed, but his disappointment was slight. “Next time then.”

“Have a safe trip home.” Sai said, not at all offended.

After making his short goodbyes, Seiji picked up the crate and left the Fujiwara home for his own.

Seiji named the turtles Sai-turtle and Hikaru-turtle, in honor of his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I’ll miss you most of all, Ogata the turtle lover.  
> 2017.06.01 Happy 1-Year Anniversary!


End file.
